Wordsmiths Letter from the Editor

It’s an exciting opportunity to be the new editor of Wordsmiths. My vision is to create a newsletter representing the writing talents and interests of our members. The goal is to feature stories, poetry, and articles on both the process and craft of writing. Learning about other NightWriters and their experience on writing, editing, self-publishing, marketing, building a website or other relevant topics should spark the interest of many. Wordsmiths will be a place for members to publish monthly themed short stories and poems. There will be an opportunity to publish the first page of your unpublished or published story. To make my vision a reality, I am seeking contributions from you. Sharing knowledge, talent, and experience about writing and publishing helps ourselves and other writers.

Submission guidelines, topics and monthly themes are listed below. Please consider contributing to Wordsmiths. For questions, comments, or suggestions, I can be contacted at slonwnewsletter@gmail.com .

Sincerely,

Denise Yaffe, PhD.

Submission Guidelines:

• Word Count: Up to 750 words
• Submission Deadline: by the 15^th of the month
• Author Bio: up to 75 words

Send all submissions as an attachment to:  slonwnewsletter@gmail.com and put NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION in the subject line. 

Monthly Themes

Please submit a short story or poem for the month’s theme

Monthly Theme	Month
Humanity	January
Love	February
Spring	March
Earth Day & the environment	April
Friendship	May
Nature & Wildlife	June
Ocean	July
Water	August
Pets	September
Halloween	October
Food	November
Family	December

Non-Themed Short Stories, Poems, and articles

The newsletter will also accept non-themed articles from NightWriters.

Member’s Spotlight

The newsletter will feature articles about members and their writing. Please contact the editor if you are interested in being interviewed to discuss your writing experience. Some suggested topics are listed below. 

Author Toolbox Suggested Topics

Self-publishing Options – how to, pros and cons

Finding an Agent

Marketing

Building a website

Journals, literary magazines, and other sources to submit for publication

Query Letters

Critique Groups

Beta Readers

Getting Reviews

Working with a publisher

Lessons Learned

Selecting a Genre

Memorable Characters

Opening and revealing an inciting incident

Showing versus Telling

Writing fiction versus nonfiction

Ideas for storyline

Make it believable through Research.

Share the First Page of your Story/Book 

Please send the first page of your unpublished or published story. Members can provide comments if requested. 

Craft of Writing 

Members, interested in sharing their teaching knowledge on the craft of writing, are encouraged to submit articles. Below are suggested topics.

Suggested Topics

How to hook readers

Writing dialogue

Point of View - Voice

Memorable Characters

Opening and revealing an inciting incident

Showing versus Telling

Rhythm and structure in your prose

Creating Conflict and Tension

Subplots

Immersive Setting

Endings

Building Plot and plot elements

Writing fiction versus nonfiction

Ideas for storyline

Make it believable through research.