Article Archive

Four young literary agents meet for an evening of food, drink, and conversation about how they find new authors, what they need to see in a query letter, and the common mistakes writers should avoid.

In an effort to open writing contests and grants to undocumented immigrants, a group called the “Undocupoets” successfully petitions some of the most prominent presses and literary organizations in America.

Literary MagNet chronicles the start-ups and closures, successes and failures, anniversaries and accolades, changes of editorship and special issues—in short, the news and trends—of literary magazines in America. This issue’s MagNet features Rattle, Poetry International, the Moth, Grain, and Barrelhouse.

A former radio executive writes about his behind-the-scenes experiences with rock stars, and puts his vast media expertise to work promoting the book. An editor and publicist weigh in.

Small Press Points highlights the innovation and can-do spirit of independent presses. This issue features the Fairfax, Virginia–based Civil Coping Mechanisms, whose devotion to writing that “doesn’t shy away” is reimagining what it means to cope.

Ron Charles of the Washington Post and the Totally Hip Video Book Review series gives his insights on the ethical and practical challenges of being a book critic for a major newspaper.

Grove Atlantic and Electric Literature join forces to launch Literary Hub, a new site with an editorial team dedicated to curating the best literature-related writing on the Web.

Jennifer Joel, whose clients include Chris Cleave, Joe McGinniss Jr., Evan Osnos, and Shonda Rhimes, talks about the difference between selling fiction and nonfiction, what inspires her to go the extra mile for her authors, and what writers should really want out of publishing.

In Ordinary Light, Pulitzer Prize­–winning poet Tracy K. Smith embraces a fuller sense of herself as a writer while cementing the connection between her children and her ancestors using the best glue she knows: words.

Small Press Points highlights the innovation and can-do spirit of independent presses. This issue features the Bedford, New York­–based Fig Tree Books, which seeks to support the voices of American Jewish authors, publishing both new titles and rereleases of out-of-print works.