Writing on a Budget: Support Fellow Writers

By Lisbeth Coiman

For a cost-conscious person, I have little self-control when it comes to books. I browse bookstores inhaling the sweet aroma of the unread pages; then, I bring out my credit card at the counter to pay for two or three books. At literary readings, I listen to the writers carefully, and then choose one or two books to bring home with me. It’s my way to support fellow writers, but also a form of self-indulgence. As the cost of my rent increases, and the stack of unread books keeps piling up on my bedside table, I am aware that I need to do something about my book-buying habit.

Because it is that time of the year when we set goals and decide, mostly without success, to break old habits, I’ve resolved to find a solution to this conundrum: how to support emerging writers while minding my small writing budget. Observing my peers at readings and bookstores, I noted some writers using one of the following three strategies

1. Request and borrow books from the library.

My friend Shelly never buys books despite expressing a life long love for words and all things lit. I used to see her at readings, in the city where we met, her eyes closed to recreate in her mind the stories or poems she heard. She took time to chat with the writers, and then left without spending a cent.

“It’s not for you. We must support each other,” I told her once.

“I don’t have space, and I move frequently. Instead of buying, I request the book at the local library, then borrow it.”

“Clever and inexpensive,” I admitted.

2. Exchange books with fellow writers

At one particular reading, I observed another friend, Cruz, approach another writer and ask if she was interested in exchanging books. “What a creative notion,” I thought. Both women are well-known and respected in their own communities and were interested in reading each other’s work. They signed copies, promised to read, and presented their business cards. The whole experience lasted a few minutes, with pleasantries and all. And they saved at least $20

3. Look out for review requests

Mary never buys books either. She browses FB groups searching for review opportunities. Mary submits the reviews to magazines and journals. When she can not land a submission, she posts a shorter version of her review in Goodreads, and Amazon, helping the writer with the promoting efforts. Not a bad idea if the reader is also trying to build her own name.

Submission Calls
The new year is bursting with submission opportunities. These are only a few for writers on a budget.

1. Waxwing Magazine
Genre: Poetry, short fiction, literary essays, translation of poetry or prose, and art.
No payment
Submission Fee: 0
Deadline: May 1
Word count: up to five poems, 3 short-shorts, or micro-essays, up to three images
Submission Guidelines

2. Brain Mill Press: 2018 Driftless Unsolicited Novella Contest
Genre: Fiction
Prize: $250 and Publication
Submission fee: $0, but they appreciate $12 will give the writer a copy of the winning novella.
Deadline: 01/23/19
Word count: 20 to 45,000 novella or novella-length collection of short stories.
Submission Guidelines

3. City Lights Booksellers and Publishers
Genre: Memoir
Submission fee: $0
Word count: Sample of 10-20 pages, book proposal, outline and table of contents, letter with summary and resume.
Submission Guidelines


Writer Lisbeth Coiman from the shoulders up, standing in front of a flower bush

Writer Lisbeth Coiman from the shoulders up, standing in front of a flower bush

headshot of Lisbeth CoimanLisbeth Coiman is an author, poet, educator, cultural worker, and rezandera born in Venezuela. Coiman’s wanderlust spirit landed her to three countries—from her birthplace to Canada, and finally the USA, where she self-published her first book, I Asked the Blue Heron: A Memoir (2017). She dedicated her bilingual poetry collection, Uprising / Alzamiento, Finishing Line Press( Sept. 2021) to her homeland, Venezuela. An avid hiker, and teacher of English as a Second Language, Coiman lives in Los Angeles, CA.

A WWS Publication Roundup for December

A laptop computer with an article titled "Submissions Made Simple" on the screen and a stack of literary journals sits on top of the laptop base, titles facing out

2018 comes to a close with another impressive roster of publications from the writers of Women Who Submit. Congratulations to all!

From Noriko Nakada‘s “Not Your Job” at Mutha Magazine:

When the doctor went to pierce
the flap of skin under your nose
with his sterile silver hook
I told you to squeeze my hand
and said, “You are so brave”

From Mahin Ibrahim‘s “Hollywood and Representation” at Nina Sadowsky:

I would not be Muslim if it weren’t for my father.

To combat “intellectual” Islamophobes, I’d like to say it is science and my own rigorous search for the truth that keeps me a believer, but it’s not.

It’s my father.

From Antonia Crane‘s “California Barbers Are on the Front Lines in the Fight for Labor Equality” at Mel Magazine:

In short, the ruling allows millions of workers — from barbers to Lyft drivers to strippers — legal protection and clout where they previously had none or were considered disposable. After all, for employers, the economic incentives to misclassify workers is colossal. 

Also from Antonia, “The Sign Flashes ‘Girls, Girls, Girls,’ and It Reminds Me that I Exist” at The Establishment:

I never told anyone about the man who punched me on the 22 until now. This is the quiet violence sex workers face every day because of gender discrimination, stigma and whorephobia. It’s easier if we stay silent and pretend it’s not happening. But it’s also easier for us. Because if we speak out about violence against sex workers, we will be blamed for living a “risky” lifestyle. We will be fingered the Whore.

From Julayne Lee‘s “Don’t Tell Me to Be Thankful for Being Adopted to a ‘Nice’ Country” at ILDA South Korean Feminist Journal:

What began as a humanitarian gesture had evolved into the reinforcement of the stigma of unwed mothers in South Korea and the intentional division of families. It is because of my desire to seek justice that I joined the planning committee for the Dual Citizenship Act, served on the ASK Steering Committee, joined the coalition to secure retroactive U.S. citizenship for all intercountry adoptees, co-founded Adoptee Solidarity Korea – Los Angeles (ASK – LA) and launched a writing workshop for adopted people of color. If we want equality and access, we have to create these opportunities and keep these spaces accessible.

Congratulations to Lisa Eve Cheby whose poems “Still Life” and “yoga for the too much alone” were published in the Santa Barbara Literary Journal and whose poems “Exorcism of My Father” and “Kitchen Closed” were published in Tipton Poetry Journal!

Congratulations to Mona Alvarado Frazier whose short story, “Lucky,” was published in Palabritas!

Congratulations to Andrea Gutierrez who reported and edited on the feature, “At Home,” at The California Sunday Magazine!

Behind the Editor’s Desk: Neelanjana Banerjee

Kaya Press catalog screenshot, from kaya.com

Note: This is a reprint from an interview in 2017. Since this publication, Kaya has published several more electrifying books, including City of the Future by Sesshu Foster. We’re re-running this piece because Kaya Press is celebrating their 25th anniversary. To everyone at Kaya, congratulations on a quarter century of publishing incredible art from the AAPI diaspora!

Help them reach their fundraising goal of $10,000 by December 31st and support independent literature!

by Lauren Eggert-Crowe

Chances are you know about Kaya Press. Perhaps you recognize the name Nicholas Wong, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of Kaya Press poetry title Crevasse. Or maybe you’ve heard of Ed Lin’s books This is a Bust and Waylaid. You might have listened to that 99% Invisible podcast episode about Thomassons but didn’t know that Kaya Press reprinted Genpei Akasegawa’s book on the subject. And in 2015 you might have seen all the positive press for Sam Chanse’s hybrid tour-de-force Lydia’s Funeral Video. Over the past two decades, Kaya Press has built a catalog of fresh, innovative work and has established itself as an organization at the forefront of independent publishing.

In their own words, “Kaya Press is a group of dedicated writers, artists, readers, and lovers of books working together to publish the most challenging, thoughtful, and provocative literature being produced throughout the Asian and Pacific Island diasporas. We believe that people’s lives can be changed by literature that pushes us past expectations and out of our comfort zone. We believe in the contagious potential of creativity combined with the means of production.”

Continue reading “Behind the Editor’s Desk: Neelanjana Banerjee”

A WWS Publication Roundup for November

A laptop computer with an article titled "Submissions Made Simple" on the screen and a stack of literary journals sits on top of the laptop base, titles facing out

November was another banner month for Women Who Submit publications! Congratulations to all the writers.

From Ryane Nicole Granados‘ “Helping Out in L.A.” at L.A. Parent:

My children have taught me that, if you look close enough, you’ll see tiny flowers breaking through their concrete and waving their tenacious petals in the breeze. That’s the beauty of children: they can see brilliance in the bleakest situations. With guidance, they can also harness their vision and use their innocence to change the world. As we embark on these holiday season, here are some family-friendly organizations making a difference…

From Désirée Zamorano‘s “Austin” at Moria:

After two weeks of a dull rage, the rage turned into despair, then confusion, then transformed gloriously into a plan.
Things made no sense, they made no sense, and sometimes it was up to the individual to turn the inside out all right side out again.  That’s what Austin would do.
Make it all right. Continue reading “A WWS Publication Roundup for November”

Breathe and Push: Why LAUSD Teachers Might Strike

By Noriko Nakada

Union Sign

Like most fall weekends, this past one was busy. There was a Friday night festival at my child’s school, there was a homecoming football game; there were soccer games and birthday parties.

But this weekend was not like all the others, because I’m an LAUSD public school teacher, and like every other year, I had many papers to grade and many students on my mind as I made my way through the weekend, but unlike other years, this year held an added stress. All weekend I carried the weight of a looming work stoppage, and very public contract negotiations that put my public school colleagues and me in the crosshairs of public conversation on the sidelines of sporting events or gathered around a table waiting for the cake to come out.

And in all of my interactions this weekend, I had to gauge, fairly quickly, where friends, old and new, stood when it came to public education. What did they already think about our public schools and what were they willing to learn? Did they ask me about what was happening with the teacher strike? Did they want to hear my perspective? Or, did they know nothing about this issue, because their kid goes to a charter, or a private school, or they don’t have kids, or upon hearing I teach in a public school they want to explain to me why community public schools just don’t work? Continue reading “Breathe and Push: Why LAUSD Teachers Might Strike”

Behind the Editor’s Desk: Tisha Reichle

Note: This interview is a repost that originally appeared in January, 2017.

by Lauren Eggert-Crowe

On my first visit to a Women Who Submit submission party in 2015, I ended up sitting across from Tisha Reichle, who was deliberating on a hiring announcement from BorderSenses. They were looking for a Fiction Editor. Even with her busy schedule, she decided to take a shot. It was a perfect example of the WWS spirit. She has now been Fiction Editor for a year.

From their website: “BorderSenses is a non-profit organization located in El Paso, dedicated to promoting the literary arts through various community projects and an annual print journal publication. Our mission is to provide a voice to visual artists and writers of this region and beyond and to promote cross-border exchange in the arts. We provide a venue for artistic growth that helps improve the quality of life for our communities.” Continue reading “Behind the Editor’s Desk: Tisha Reichle”

Spilling the Beans on Macondo Magic

by Natalia Treviño

I wake up each day and begin assessing. Did I get enough sleep? I do math, guessing at total hours without waking up fully. It is the first thing that comes to mind. I want to live. Sleep, I have learned, will help me do that. I tell myself a lot of things in order to calm down the monsters that are always at me, always wanting me to give up, stop trying hard, and hide under a rock for the rest of my life. I reason away the monsters as best I can by way of dreams, concoctions, stories, alternate realities, television, statistics, oppositional thinking, lectures, readings, creativity. Community. Comunidad is the one brain, heart, and soul medicine that sticks, that works, that helps create something out of all the muck and beauty that I see. I grew up with a lot of fear, as a Mexican girl told by her father not to make waves, to always stay under the radar, and eke out a living if possible. He also trained me to understand that death was around every corner, that predators surround every public space, and the goal is not to get fired or divorced again. I had to make this work for me, make my fear be the catalyst for living despite it. Writing is my act of hope against fear, and hope is what my writing mentors have given me over the years, but the unstoppable hope I have now I can only attribute to Macondo Magic. Continue reading “Spilling the Beans on Macondo Magic”

A WWS Publication Roundup for October

A laptop computer with an article titled "Submissions Made Simple" on the screen and a stack of literary journals sits on top of the laptop base, titles facing out

Happy Halloween and Happy publications! Congratulations to all the Women Who Submit who were published in October.

From Arielle Silver‘s “Mother” at Matador Review:

Mother: [Noun] a woman who has borne a child.

    1. First came love.

                       Father: Spring break she took a road trip down from Georgia for the weekend. Ended up at my frat party.

                                   Where are you from? I asked.
                                   New York, she said.
                                   Your name sounds Jewish, I said.
                                   I am, she said.
What’s that on your finger?
I asked.
                                   I’m engaged, she said.
                                   Why don’t you break up with your fiancé and go out with me, I said.

    2. Then came marriage.

From Arlene Schindler‘s “The Night I Became a Gift from Cary Grant to One of His Friends” at Purple Clover:

The party was in a fancy restaurant in New York City attended by 75 rich and famous types. The entertainment preceding me were five different -grams. I had to follow a singing Yankee Gram, a gift from party guest George Steinbrenner. Shortly after I got into my costume, a guest who was an infamous nasty person—Roy Cohn—walked up to me and said, “If you are not funny, kid, your friend loses her job.” No pressure there. Continue reading “A WWS Publication Roundup for October”

Won’t You Be My Neighbor: A Call to Action in Trump’s America

By Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

Fred Rogers spent decades asking children each day, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” It was an invitation to engage and understand. It was an offering of friendship and a call to build community. These are values lost on Donald Trump.

Within a month of the Trump Administration announcing its “zero tolerance” policy on May 7, 2018, Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez was shot in the head and murdered by a Border Patrol agent in Rio Bravo, Texas, Trans woman, Roxana Hernandez, died while in ICE custody, Marco Antonio Muñoz, committed suicide while in custody after being separated from his wife and three year-old son, and an estimated 1,300 (the number grew to 2,500) children seeking asylum were forcibly separated from parents and guardians at the border and placed in makeshift government detention centers, one being a desert camp in Tornillo, Texas reminiscent of a WWII Japanese detention center.

Though Trump ended forcible separation after a country-wide outcry on June 20th, a September 13th report from USA Today counts 416 children are still separated, and an October 3rd article in The Guardian, reports the Tornillo detention center has not only not shut down as expected, but continues to grow, currently detaining an estimated 2000 minors. Continue reading “Won’t You Be My Neighbor: A Call to Action in Trump’s America”

Writing on a Budget: Time Management

By Lisbeth Coiman

The first hard truth I learned as an emerging writer is that it will take years of dedication and hard work before I can live off my writing. Whether through my established career as a teacher, or through a series of small gigs, as an emerging writer I must make a living outside of writing, while seeking every opportunity to write and submit my work. Therefore, effective time management stands out in my writing tool box.

Continue reading “Writing on a Budget: Time Management”