Friday Round-Up: Tweets you may have missed

Just in case you missed them - or you have yet to join the Twitter craze - here's a rundown of the posts from our LAwritersgroup.com Twitter account from the past couple weeks.

Key:
RT = Re-tweet, which means someone else tweeted something and we re-tweeted it.
@(name) = This is a user name on Twitter. If you click on it, you should be able to visit that person's twitter site and follow them if you so chose.

• The Poetry Market Ezine Call for Poetry Review Submissions: http://ow.ly/1s0CEx
  
  
• Miracle Monocle Call for Poetry, Fiction and Microfiction Submissions: http://ow.ly/1s0CTt
  
  
• Diverse Verses Quarterly Call for Poetry, Short Story, Personal Essay and Creative Nonfiction Submissions: http://ow.ly/1s0CTE
  
  
• Mythium Literary Journal Call for Poetry, Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Submissions: http://ow.ly/1s0CU5
  
  
• Writer Beware™ Blogs!: Alert for Poets: Oprah Wants You (But You May Not Want Oprah) http://ow.ly/1s12QJ
  
  
• The Redheaded Stepchild Call for Previously Rejected Poetry Submissions: http://ow.ly/3UlFC
  
  
• Why join a writer's group or a writing workshop? http://ow.ly/3UHmD

Call for Submissions: The Redheaded Stepchild

The Redheaded Stepchild is a magazine that only accepts poems that have already been rejected by other magazines. We publish biannually and only accept submissions in the months of August and February. We do not accept previously published work. We do, however, accept simultaneous submissions, but please inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. We are open to a wide variety of poetry and hold no allegiance to any particular style or school. If your poem is currently displayed online on your blog or website (or wherever), please do not send it to us before taking it down, at least temporarily.

You may submit 3-5 poems that have been rejected elsewhere with the names of the magazines that rejected the poems. We do not want multiple submissions, so please wait for a response to your first submission before you submit again. As is standard after publication, rights revert back to the author, but we request that you credit Redheaded Stepchild in subsequent republications.

We do not accept email attachments; therefore, in the body of your email, please include the following:

• A brief bio
• 3-5 poems
• The publication(s) that rejected the poems

Send your submissions to redheadedstepchildmag[at]gmail.com

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.redheadedmag.com/poetry/

Why join a writer's group or a writing workshop?

Nicole forwarded me this email from LAwritersgroup.com workshop moderator Kat Smith, and it felt relevant to post a piece of her message for our blog readers. If you're still on the fence about joining or participating in a writing workshop of any kind, perhaps her words will sway you:

Young musicians practice daily. A singer doesn't begin with an aria. She starts by warming up her vocal cords. A pianist practices his scales every day from a young age. An athlete doesn't begin with a triathlon. He spends hours lifting weights, stretching, building the muscle mass and flexibility that will support the feats he intends to achieve.

Writing is no different. We become writers with daily practice. Getting in touch with our unique voices. Writing fast, writing free. Progress may be so incremental as to be unnoticeable, just as a pianist doesn't go from chopsticks to Chopin. Some days you'll hate what you write. But one day, something astonishing will come pouring out of you and you'll wonder where the hell it came from.

It came from the 1,183 writing exercises that preceded it. Exercises where you trained your mind to focus, where you learned to trust your voice, to step out of your way, to let it flow. Practice writing like practicing scales, may not seem very glamorous. Bring your passion to it anyway. That's the work of an artist.

Kat also included the following video in her message. It features Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Boys, giving his take on consistent writing:

It seems as though a constant flow of writing is the best way to find your best work. Even small exercises on a consistent basis can help keep you in good practice. I myself participate in LAwritersgroup.com's writer's groups, and I completely agree with what Kat and Ray have said. Writer's groups and writing workshops provide their members the opportunity to practice their skill in an open forum with other writers just as dedicated to their craft. So I ask you this: do you practice your writing on a consistent basis? Do you think that this "fine tuning" and practicing approach can be effective?

Call for Submissions: Mythium Literary Journal

Mythium Literary Journal is now taking fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction submissions.

Mythium is the brainchild of award-winning author Crystal E. Wilkinson and visual artist/poet Ronald Davis. It's goal is to spotlight colored writers of various cultural and ethnic backgrounds in the aforementioned fields.

Submissions are accepted year-round. Fiction and creative nonfiction pieces must be limited to 5,000 words. Novel and memoir excerpts are acceptable. You may submit up to 5 poems at one time, but they must not exceed 20 pages total. Entrants may only submit one submission per category until you have been notified of acceptance or non-acceptance of submitted material. Payment is in one copy of the issue in which the author's work appears.

For full submission guidelines, please visit our website: http://mythiumlitmag.com/submissions.html

Call for Submissions: Diverse Voices Quarterly

Diverse Voices Quarterly is celebrating its third year of publishing online! Issue Eight is now available for download on our website.

For Issue 9, we are now accepting online submissions for poetry, short stories and personal essays/creative nonfiction. Please use the form on our website to submit your work: http://www.diversevoicesquarterly.com/submissions.

• For poetry: You may submit 3-5 poems. Please send in one file, separated by a page break between poems.
• For short stories: Submissions must be 3,000 words or less. You may submit up to two short shorts that add up to 1,000 words.
• For personal essays/creative nonfiction: Submissions must be 3,000 words or less. Send only one essay at a time.

Artwork, which is especially requested, must still be sent directly to submissions[at]diversevoicesquarterly.com.

For full submission guidelines, please visit our website: http://www.diversevoicesquarterly.com/submission-guidelines/

Call for Submissions: Miracle Monocle

Miracle Monocle is now accepting submissions for our upcoming Spring and Summer 2011 issues. We're looking for poetry, fiction and microfiction.

• For fiction: Please limit your submission to 4,000 words and submit one piece at a time. For paper submissions, please double-space.
• For poetry and microfiction: You may include up to 5 pieces in your submission. There is no word limit for poetry submissions. Please limit microfiction pieces to 500 words or less.

We accept both electronic and paper submissions year-round.

For full submission guidelines, please visit our website at www.miraclemonocle.com.

Miracle Monocle features works of contemporary fiction, poetry and microfiction and believes that even the most serious subjects can be handled with humor and charity. Miracle Monocle is an online journal housed and supported by the University of Louisville's English Department and is run by faculty, graduates and undergraduates. Issues appear quarterly. Unpublished, emerging and established writers alike are encouraged to apply and submit.

Call for Submissions: The Poetry Market Ezine

The Poetry Market Ezine is currently seeking submissions of poetry reviews for publication in our free monthly ezine.

The Poetry Market Ezine only accepts poetry book, chapbook or poetry magazine or ezine reviews. We do not publish poems. We only publish reviews somehow related to poetry.

Reviews must be unpublished in any form upon submission. They must be written by the person submitting the review. Reviews may not be a review of the reviewer's own poetry book or chapbook. They may be up to 800 words (or 1 to 1 1/2 pages) in length, but shorter reviews are preferred. Reviews must include the name of the item reviewed, where the item can be purchased (with the ISBN, if applicable), and author contact information (of both the author of the item if applicable as well as the author of the review).

Please submit reviews in the body of an email. Put "Poetry Review Submission" in the subject line. Include a brief bio (2-4 lines) and a cover letter. You may submit 1-3 reviews at a time. We will consider reprints, but there will be no payment for reprints. You can expect a response within 1-2 months. Please email reviews to thepoetrymarket[at]yahoo.com.

Full submission guidelines can be found at www.thepoetrymarket.com.