a triple shot of literary excellence
Caffeinated Press is pleased to announce the release of “Jot That Down: Encouraging Essays for New Writers.” This collection of essays was edited by A.L. Rogers and features contributions from 19 published authors, poets and illustrators.
We’re looking for a motivated self-starter to serve as our primary book developer.
Where, oh where, has the summer gone? With all the activity going on at Caffeinated Press, it’s hard to believe we’re already closer to next Christmas than to last.
The Caffeinated Press board of directors is pleased to share that Tabitha Maloley, a long-time senior editor, has joined the board of directors, effective May 26.
Looking for stuff to do to expand your literary chops? Consider these six upcoming opportunities!
As a sign of partnership with GLCL — a literary non-profit advancing, promoting and celebrating the literary arts in our community — we’re offering our office space for drop-in writing and editing time.
Hey, you. Yes, you. You look like a writer. Can I interest you in any of the following opportunities?
Manuscript queries get rejected for all sorts of reasons, but “goodness of fit” and “commercial viability” present an obstacle that a good line edit or peer review is unlikely to overcome.
Whether you’re self-published and need guidance or have been published by a small- or mid-sized press, take comfort in knowing that some strategies — while they’re not guaranteed to sell you even one additional book — have, on balance, proved helpful to other authors looking to grow their sales.
The third installment of our annual house anthology, Brewed Awakenings, will be released this coming October. The reading window for this volume closes on May 31 — so you have plenty of time, and no excuses, for crafting a short story or an essay for submission.
Chris Galford is an author, photographer and journalist with deep roots in West Michigan. His short story, Furniture City, is available in both the print and ebook version of Brewed Awakenings 2. Learn more about this dynamic young man and his craft by visiting galfordchris.com.
The last day of a year that taxed our collective national consciousness draws to a close. Many of us offer a sigh of relief, cut by a sliver of hope that 2017 will prove to be more tranquil and fulfilling. Or at least, marked by less drama and fewer tragedies.
We’re pleased to announce a general refresh of our entire Web platform. Enjoy!
I don’t think there’s a “One Weird Trick” approach to building a writer’s toolkit that will work for everyone. The ways I’ve written in the past don’t work for me today, and today’s method may not work for me a year from now. What’s important is that your infrastructure blend into the background; you should use it, without being aware that it’s there. And when it doesn’t work, change it up.
Although publisher/agent guidelines vary in the specifics, most novel queries require a cover letter, one to three sample chapters and a synopsis. Synopses, however, tend to bedevil early-career writers. They’re presented, usually, as an afterthought, or as some sort of back-of-the-cover tease — and therefore, the synopsis becomes the silent killer of what otherwise could have been a perfect pitch.
A few quick items of interest from your friends at Caffeinated Press — Open office hours today, Sun. Mar. 13, from 10a to 4p. Please feel welcome to drop in, have some coffee, plug into the power and the Wi-Fi,
Even though it might be embarrassing, an occasional trip down memory lane is useful. And it’s worth remembering, too, that your first or second novel will almost surely end up in the back of your file cabinet. That’s OK. It’s healthy. Your goal shouldn’t be to write and then to publish, but rather to write until you’re ready to publish.
Writers’ conferences open several valuable opportunities to authors — the chance to learn from peers, to buy books, to network with other writers, to stumble upon new potential markets, etc. But before you sign up for every conference in a 150-mile radius, consider your goals and the conference’s agenda. Even a free conference might not be worth what you paid to attend it.
Many authors rely on Word or Writer and they do just fine. But those programs weren’t designed for long-form creative writing in mind. Word and Writer are ubiquitous; people tend to have these programs and they already know how to use them, so they use them. And no one begrudges them that. But wouldn’t it be great to use the right tool for the job? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to make use of programs designed for long-form writing and optimized for use with publishing software, or to add plugins to Word to make it more useful for long-form writing?
