Politics Got You Down?

Lift Up Your Voice in Social & Political Commentary!

July 1, 2022

Dear Writers,

Thank you for signing up for Writing with Hart: News and Opportunities for Writers. I’m so glad you’re here!

It’s been a month. Maybe you’ve been inspired to sketch out the rough draft of some political and/or social commentary in response to various stories in the news. Maybe you should take the next step and polish up your piece and send it to newspapers and magazines for potential publication so that you can join the public discourse and make your voice heard!

You don’t have to live in a particular state to have an op-ed (i.e., social/political commentary) published in their newspaper. I live in Oregon, and I’ve had pieces in The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The Los Angeles Times. You don’t have to be some fancy seasoned journalist to publish short commentary; most op-ed pages reserve a spot each day or week for guest viewpoints. Guess who that guest could be?

You!

Remember that editors are looking for commentary that checks three boxes:

·        Is the idea new (or is the treatment of the idea new)?

·        Is the piece relevant to the readers of this particular publication?

·        Is the piece surprising (headline, first paragraph, last paragraph, and everything in between)?

Still have questions? The Op-Ed Project’s got you covered. I love this organization. Visit the site to find sample op-ed pieces, tips for how to write an op-ed that editors will love, and a long list of newspapers around the U.S. that accept op-eds from regular folx.

What I’m Publishing

A lot in June! I wrote Regenerative Tourism Invites Travelers to Get Their Hands Dirty | Travel| Smithsonian Magazine

And then, for Pride Month:

Families Like Ours: A Reading List for the Children of Queer Parents (longreads.com) which was so much fun to research, and emotionally-wrenching to write.

And  . . .

How My Family Copes with the Stress of Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws (happify.com) related to the piece above; during the writing process, I realized I’ve been coping with the stress of anti-queer laws for over four decades. Thank goodness for nature and chocolate.

Finally, for The Writer Magazine, I wrote a round-up of five superb speculative fiction writing conferences: 5 speculative fiction conventions for writers to attend - The Writer (writermag.com) and profiled this excellent literary journal specializing in speculative fiction from Black writers: Literary Spotlight: FIYAH - The Writer (writermag.com)

A Couple of Very Cool Writing Resources

·         6 of the Best Android Apps For Writers (selfpublishing.com). Yes, I have an Android smartphone, and I’m fine with it . . . especially because of all these nifty apps.

·        The Nonfiction Authors Association is offering a Book Publicity Master Course with publicist extraordinaire Joanne McCall. You can get a sense of how brilliant she is on this free podcast. Also, she’s got the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard!

·        Okay, not a writing resource, per se, but did you catch this Life Kit episode about defying ageism? I found it to be powerful and inspiring. If you have 22 minutes, definitely give it a listen!

Conferences, Workshops, and Calls for Submissions

·        I have only a few spots left in my online asynchronous 8-week class, “How to Write & Publish Short Personal Essays for Magazines & Newspapers.” Register here, but hurry! (Want a sneak-peek at the content? Here’s my free one-hour webinar on the subject.)

·        The Willamette Writers Conference is happening in August, virtually and in person in Portland, Oregon. I’m teaching a master class, titled “Turn Your Passion into Paychecks: Write Feature Articles for Magazines and Newspapers.” I’m going to pack this six-hour class with useful information, and I’d love to see you there!

·        Dissent Magazine has a call for emerging writers and new voices; they pay 50 cents a word, but you’ve got to act fast . . . their deadline is today!

·        Dismantle Magazine is actively looking for “personal essays that explore larger issues related to fashion, pop culture and social change.”

·        Catapult Story’s Leah Johnson wants personal essays, sent to leah.johnson@catapult.co.

·        Roxanne Gay Books is open briefly to unagented submissions, and check out the call for submissions to Gay’s newsletter “Audacity” right here!

That’s all for now! Feel free to share this newsletter and/or these opportunities with everyone you know! And email me if something wonderful comes across your inbox. I’ll share it in the August newsletter.

Much gratitude,

Melissa

P.S. Here’s me during my annual death-defying trek up to my roof to pick cherries. (Hat by Nate the Great at 21 Pineapples Shirt Co.) It’s lovely up here—I may just conduct the weekly Zoom meetings for my personal essay class on the roof this summer!