Tag Archives: creative nonfiction

Last call for Travel Stories — Other Opportunities to Publish Creative Nonfiction

by Mike O’Mary

DOT logo large copyDream of Things has issued a last call for submissions of stories for a travel anthology to be published later this year. Stories can be humorous or serious. The deadline is October 15, 2011.For details about the type of story we want, see the Dream of Things workshop page. For more details about the travel anthology, click HERE. You can also read excerpts from Saying Goodbye, our first anthology, by clicking HERE.

I started Dream of Things two years ago to publish anthologies of creative nonfiction that are “short and deep” — somewhere between the Chicken Soup series and Best American Essays. In addition to the travel anthology, Dream of Things is accepting submissions for anthologies on the following topics: Holiday Stories, Coffee Shop Stories, Stories of Forgiveness, Stories About Great Teachers, Advice and Making Waves/Role Models. For more information, click HERE.

Publishing Syndicate copyBe sure to check out publishing opportunities with Publishing Syndicate, too. The owners of Publishing Syndicate are real pros. Dahlynn and Ken McKowen have lengthy resumes when it comes to writing, ghostwriting, editing services and publishing. In fact, Dahlynn was coauthor of several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and series creators Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen called her “one of their most trusted coauthors.” So Dahlynn knows anthologies. Dahlynn and Ken have launched a new series of personal nonfiction called “Not Your Mother’s Book,” and they are accepting submission on 25 topics! To learn more about the “Not Your Mother’s Book” series and other Publishing Syndicate projects, click HERE.

A Larger Truth

Didionby Mike O’Mary

Twenty years ago, when I got an MFA in creative writing, fiction and poetry were the only options when it came to areas of emphasis. Since then, creative nonfiction has gained equal footing with fiction and poetry in the eyes of academia, and many MFA programs now offer an emphasis in creative nonfiction.

Of course, readers are less interested in the views of academia than in a good read. Consequently, readers have known for decades what MFA programs have finally figured out: creative nonfiction is hot! And there are many places to publish -– everywhere from Harper’s to your local paper. In fact, before I published creative nonfiction “essays” in the Sunday Magazines of the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and others, I got my first breaks with newspapers like the Peoria Journal Star and the Joliet Herald.

In a www.creativenonfiction.org article, Lee Gutkind, often described as the “Godfather of creative nonfiction,” says creative nonfiction “offers flexibility and freedom while adhering to the basic tenets of reportage. In creative nonfiction, writers can be poetic and journalistic simultaneously.”

In that same article, Gutkin quotes Gay Talese, who described creative nonfiction this way: “Though often like fiction, it is not fiction. It is, or should be, as reliable as the most reliable reportage, although it seeks a larger truth than is possible through the mere compilation of verifiable facts.”

There are lots of great examples of authors who sought “a larger truth” in their creative nonfiction. Some of my favorites are Joan Didion (The White Album and Slouching Toward Bethlehem), Michael Herr (Dispatches), Barry Lopez (Arctic Dreams), Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes), Tom Wolfe (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and The Right Stuff), Maxine Hong Kingston (The Woman Warrior), and Mary Karr (The Liar’s Club). Who are your favorite authors of creative nonfiction? And when do you plan to join their ranks?

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, a book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics.

Dream Catchers and Goodreads

Moon Sun Night - Copyby Mike O’Mary
Two news items this week, one for writers, one for readers:
1. Dream of Things launched a “Dream Catchers” section of its website to highlight authors whose work has been selected for future publication in a Dream of Things anthology. We get lots of great stories at Dream of Things, and our editors are constantly reviewing new submissions. The best creative nonfiction will be published in our anthologies. But putting an anthology together takes months.

Meantime, we’re sitting on all these great stories. Not anymore! Each week, we plan to feature a new story on the Dream Catchers section of dreamofthings.com. This week’s story is “Forever Sharp” by Terri Elders of Colville, Washington, and it will be published in an anthology about great teachers later this year.

2. Goodreads.com: I’m not sure the world needs another online social networking site, but if we have to make room for one more, goodreads.com looks like a pretty good one. It’s basically a place to rate books that you’ve read, share that info with others, and learn about new books you might want to read. Billed as “the largest social network for readers in the world” with 2.9 million members, Goodreads says, “Somehow, reading books seems to have gotten a bad rap. People are working too hard and not making time to read. But every once in a while you run into a friend who tells you about this ‘great new book I’m reading.’ And suddenly you’re excited to read it. It’s that kind of excitement that Goodreads is all about.”

Goodreads also looks like a good place for an author to set up shop. Take a look at the Goodreads Author Profile of yours truly for an example of what an author can do on their site.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, a book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics.