July 31, 2025

Baltimore Review News: I’m almost finished getting the annual print compilation of the journal together—gathering all the poems, fiction, and creative nonfiction from the summer and fall 2024 and winter and spring 2025 issues together into a book to send to Amazon KDP. As always, I’ll be asking the BR staff members for their help in proofreading first. Once the book is ready, I’ll send copies to all the writers whose work is included in these issues. Best of both worlds, right? A link to their published work on the website and a print book to add to the shelf.

We reopen our Submittable doors for poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction tomorrow, August 1. No submission fee for non-contest submissions—we’re strong believers in not charging submission fees—but if you donate $5 when you submit, we email you a 28-page pdf with loads of writing prompts and tips.

And we’re still working on making final decisions and sending responses to writers from our last submission period. We receive over 10,000 submissions/year now. Hoping to get caught up very soon.

On a personal note: I recently had some micros accepted by Cleaver, and I’m super pleased about that. I also signed up for a couple of their "Ass in Chair” sessions. Adding any structure to my writing life is always a good idea. Highly recommend registering for free to low-cost generative online sessions whenever you can. It’s great to have some raw material to work with later. Plus, it’s great to connect with other writers!

A cool resource for writers that need a spark: All the great links on Matt Kendrick’s website. You can read his work there, too. As someone who loves to read and write short forms, I’m a fan.