The Blue Moon Review

Some BMR Alumni Updates, in no particular order

Aaron Paulson moved to Tokyo after four years in rural Hokkaid, and is teaching English at an international high school in a working-class suburb of the biggest city in the world. He writes: “the new gig overwhelmed me for a few years, and my writing output has been limited to sporadic outbursts of blogging, the latest incarnation of which is Tokyo Kills Me at http://www.exitbooted.com/tokyokillsme/current.htm”

JK Mason won the grand prize (1st out of 17,584 manuscripts, 10 categories) in the 2004 Writer's Digest Writing Competition with a story called "My Own Avatar.” His novel is currently searching for agent.

Paul A. Toth published his second novel, Fishnet.  Reach him via his website at www.netpt.tv, and be sure to check out his podcasts.

Robert Sward's Collected Poems from Black Moss Press was cited by Alan Cheuse, book reviewer for American National Public Radio, as one of the top poetry books published in 2004 in North America.  He's also produced a video of a poem from the book, and I've placed online--you can link to it here.

Jessy Randall has a a chapbook of poems available from Unicorn Press (Slumber Party at the Aquarium) and another one forthcoming (Broken Heart Diet, same press).

Thom Ward published another poetry book in 2003 with Carnegie Mellon U. Press – Various Orbits.  He writes “ which in NASCAR Nation is like, and I say this without bitterness, dropping a feather into the Grand Canyon.”  Thom has more work coming out in BMR this year.

Since publishing with us, Whit Honea has gotten married and has a son named Atticus.  His occasional blog is online at http://endofwhit.blogspot.com

Alumni updates are welcome c/o doug (at) thebluemoon.com.

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Submissions closed

Folks, I've closed fiction submissions in order to read through work I've received. I'll note here on the site if I'll be reopening them this year--please check back periodically.

Submissions closing on Aug 6

A quick note to say I'll be closing submissions sometime around August 6th--get your pieces in this week! I've gotten quite a few this past week, and now have a large backlog of stories to read through. Depending on how many I accept, I may reopen sometime after I've gotten through these, but then again I might not if there are enough to carry through the upcoming year. Carpe diem!

July Submissions Update

I've been silent for awhile, so I thought I'd post a quick update for those of you submitting or planning on submitting work.

Submissions are still open for Fiction.  I've accepted several pieces, but still have room for more for the upcoming year.  I do have a backlog of about 30 unread stories today, so it will take me some time to get back to you.  I am still reading all stories submitted personally, and I am trying to respond personally to all submissions, but I can't guarantee a response.

Some tips on getting your Fiction submission accepted: 

1.  Don't send poetry!

2.  Proofread your text submission.  After you convert it from Word, you should review it to ensure no strange characters have crept in.

3.  Send just one piece at a time.  If you send more than one, I'm more inclined to compare them against each other vs. reading each on their own merit.  (Though if your sending a few short flash-fiction type pieces, I'm ok with that.)

4.  Don't send a grammatically incorrect cover letter.   I've never seen an awful cover email followed by a good story.  I don't mind if you're informal, funny, eccentric, etc--I actually enjoy those notes.  But a lack of grammar will bias me against your piece at the outset.  You can skip a cover letter, too, and I won't mind.

5.  Don't cc me on an email submission going to 20 other online editors.  (Or even 10.)

6.  Engage with your characters (or your words) and take a stand.  Stories that taper off into a flat, morally ambiguous ending generally don't thrill me unless it's a brilliantly worded morally ambiguity, and usually it's not.

7.  Write brilliantly.  Send me your best.  People around the world will be reading you in BMR, and you want to make sure you've got clean underwear on.

All of that said, I also want to thank all of the people who've sent work already.  You're all the reason BMR has been able to publish great work for the last 10 years.