Do you write short nonfiction? - Writers Forum

kaolin · 11-21-2007, 05:15 AM

Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine is in a slump of short nonfiction submissions. We all know how to find fiction writers and poets, and to an extent we're okay with finding art we like online and asking for it--but where do we go for "cutting edge" nonfiction that's more interesting than "the latest writing advice" and less dated than a book review or an author interview. ((we've had 40 submitted in the span of three issues! As compared to over 3000 stories!))

We're looking for something intelligent that doesn't talk down to the reader--if the reader has to look a few things up to follow along, that's ok (if you give them places to look it up and/or verbal cues to help them along, that's ok, too). Of course, we're also just looking for something "different", something "lasting", and something "that makes us need to share it with everyone". We don't quite know what that might be.

If you've got some short nonfiction, we'd love to see it! Our current issue is themed "mechanical flight", so anything related to that even tangentially (a treatise on the symbology of flight in dreams, or a history of mechanical flight in science fiction, or whatever) would be great--and anything not related, so long as it might be GUD material--we'll be happy to consider it.

Submissions via our webform at Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine: Submission Guidelines

We pay advances of 3 cents per word for unpublished material, 1 cent per word reprints--details here

Any thoughts as to where else we might seek such contributions would be greatly appreciated!

To date we've published a journal entry related to a poetry conference; a somewhat high-brow report investigating the relation between poetry and programming; and some gonzo journalism from Poland. We're willing to go there. Can you take us there? (I feel like I'm channeling Mike Coombes there, a little.

)

JohnN · 11-21-2007, 08:36 AM

You should really post this here

http://www.writingforums.com/writers-resources/

otherwise its just spam.

Cran · 12-07-2007, 06:37 PM

Regardless of where this thread belongs, kaolin, there are some things you may not have considered ...

Unlike fiction, poetry, and to a lesser extent opinion pieces, most non-fiction requires a heavy time commitment to research and validity checking - it's not enough to simply sit down and write something on a topic; it has to be credible, otherwise it reflects poorly upon the writer and again, on the publisher.

So, few serious non-fiction writers are going to be interested in committing their time and resources to a risk that, at best, returns 3c per word (which is about half the going fiction rate) - the exceptions might be among the previously unpublished, and the bloggers; your best approach might be to groom a stable of writers from these groups.

The rest of us will put our ongoing non-fiction commitments first, and continue to offer the odd poem or short story, which we might write for personal satisfaction rather than for dreams of fame and fortune ...