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Bespoke Books: An interview with Jason Stoneking

Jason Stoneking and Celia Galey

Jason Stoneking and Celia Daley

Celia Galey recently caught up with Jason Stoneking in Paris, to talk with him about his current series of unique, handwritten, Bespoke Books. The interview is transcribed here. Celia: So first I … [Read more...]

Where to find literary magazines and other publishers

Empty Mirror

spiral vista / credit: d.e.

Want to submit your poetry, fiction, or nonfiction to literary magazines, journals, and presses? On the sites below you can learn which ones are open for submissions, and what they're looking … [Read more...]

Classic Omniscience Revisited: Lessons for the Modern Novelist in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair

Tim Weed

Omniscience in the Novel

As a craft technique, nineteenth-century omniscience is mostly brought up these days for the purposes of pointing out that it’s obsolete. It’s old. It’s passé. The presumed authority of the classic … [Read more...]

The Twenty-Story Summer

Eric D. Lehman

Overgrown by Jarle R

Last summer I put aside work on a novel. Inspiration wasn’t hitting me for the longer work, so instead of obsessing about a lack of progress, I worked on other ideas that accumulated along the way. … [Read more...]

Building a Better Argument

Eric D. Lehman

ABC of Reading - Ezra Pound

Most of us would agree that a free exchange of ideas is beneficial to society. And most of us probably agree that the quality of this conversation is poorer than it could be. We just have to turn on … [Read more...]

Becoming the World’s Strongest Writer

Eric D. Lehman

Weighlifter Writer

“To write, you must read.” - Kurt Vonnegut “She needs to read more poetry if she ever wants to become a better writer,” insisted my colleague when talking about one of our weaker creative writing … [Read more...]

The Poetry of Walking

Wendy Gist

Mystery Forest - Denise Enck

“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the … [Read more...]

With Crooked Legs of Hackberry

Gregory Ormson

On Crooked Legs of Hackberry

At 21, I traveled through India for six months. My world-view had been scrambled, and writing about my travels helped me unscramble it. I had never seen people starving on the streets, their limp … [Read more...]

Warren Adler: On the Virtues of Pens, Paper & Pixels

Warren Adler

https://www.flickr.com/photos/markusspiske

For writers of the imagination, what we fear the most is a disruption, a blockage, a sudden dam that changes the course of the river of creativity. Back in the late sixties and early seventies when … [Read more...]

Six steps to deal with literary rejections

Sweta Srivastava Vikram

dealing with rejections

Whether we like it or not, ever so often, like an unwelcome houseguest, rejections creep upon us. It doesn’t matter where you are in your writing career or the number of books you have published; … [Read more...]

10 Novelist-Tested Ways to Defeat Writer’s Block from Acclaimed Author Warren Adler

Warren Adler

Warren Adler

1. Reread your favorite novels, the ones that once inspired you to be a writer. One of my favorite books is The Red and the Black by Stendhal, not surprisingly, it makes an appearance in my new … [Read more...]

10 places to find reviewers for your self-published book

Empty Mirror

How to find reviewers for your self-published book

Self-publishing is a great way to get your book into the world. But when you self-publish, you take on all the responsibilities that a traditional publisher usually would, including marketing the … [Read more...]

Reflections of a Writer

Sweta Srivastava Vikram

In 2012, for NaNoWriMo, which is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world, I commenced work on my third novel. I … [Read more...]

Why multi-genre writing rocks!

Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Sweta Srivasta Vikram books

During the week of June 14-17, I was fortunate enough to win a scholarship to attend the Wesleyan Writers’ Conference. It is a program that offers the opportunity for people to meet fellow writers and … [Read more...]

How to write an excellent book review query

Empty Mirror

Skiing in Interzone - a fictitious book

So, your book is finished and you need to get the word out. You've found some book reviewers who you'd like to email. You're hoping they'll accept a copy of your book for possible review. But … [Read more...]

10 public speaking tips for writers

Tom Milton

Public Speaking for Writers

Writers often work in solitude. But when it's time to do a reading or a book signing, or to give a presentation or speech, you're no longer in your own environment, and the nerves can really kick in! … [Read more...]

The one thing an author should never, ever do.

Denise Enck

typewriter

I'm a reviewer. I hang out on message boards frequented by other reviewers. One popular topic on these message boards is that of authors who comment on reviews of their books. Almost all reviewers … [Read more...]

Where and How to Sell Your Poetry Books

Denise Enck

So, you've self-published your book.Now what? Your book just arrived from the printer. Having them published was the easy part. Now your greatest challenge is upon you - you need to get your work out … [Read more...]

Authors Copyright and Permissions

Denise Enck and Empty Mirror

For some reason, Empty Mirror receives a fair amount of email from folks looking for contact information for particular writers. On occasion those searching for copyright permissions inquire as well. … [Read more...]

The Lowdown on Copyright for Poets and Writers

Denise Enck

copyright for writers

What you need to know about copyrights: [Please note - I am not an attorney, and the information presented here has been gathered from a number of sources. I am talking here about copyright … [Read more...]

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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Recent features

  • My Father’s Map
  • On Waiting
  • Seeing Las Meninas in Madrid, 1994
  • Visual poems from 23 Bodhisattvas by Chris Stephenson
  • Historical Punctum: Reading Natasha Trethewey’s Bellocq’s Ophelia and Native Guard Through the Lens of Roland Barthes’s Camera Lucida
  • Panic In The Rear-View Mirror: Exploring The Work of Richard Siken and Ann Gale
  • “Art has side effects,” I said.

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