As promised, here’s part two of the December update, with a contest (more if you follow the link), a songwriting workshop, places to submit, and more. And the usual list of member successes!

Chris Fielden is a British writer who keeps me updated about writing contests. I like his list because it’s international. Here’s an example. Not Quite Write’s Prize for Flash Fiction is a quarterly competition that commences on the fourth Friday of the month in January, April, July, and October. The dates for 2026 are: January 23-25, April 24-26, July 24-26, and October 23-25. You’re given the theme on the first day, and have two days to write 500 words max. AU$35 entry fee. AU$1,500 top prize. Lots of runner-up prizes – total prize pot is AU$4,000. All shortlisted entries are published in an annual print anthology and read aloud on the Not Quite Write Podcast, where the judges share detailed insights into the competition and judging process. You can sign up now for January or sign up for the whole year. Entry is cheaper if you get in early. Chris has interviewed founders Amanda Scotland and Edward Bicioc, and you can listen to the short conversation on YouTube.

On Friday, February 6, from 10 am—5 pm ET, The Gotham Writers Workshop is offering a one-day Songwriting Intens

ive with Jody Gray. You can choose the one-day in-person class, or two days on Zoom. The Intensive explores lyric writing and song construction while also touching on musical concepts.

The writing market can be overwhelming, particularly for new authors who do not have a history of past publication. Authors Publish has produced a list of the Top 45 Publishers for New Authors.  They caution that no legitimate established presses specifically look for unpublished authors. The presses on this list were chosen because they have published a number of debut books before. The publishers on this list do not require literary agents. You can submit to these publishers directly.

People regularly ask me about possible roads to publishing, specifically self-publishing. I’m published with a hybrid publisher, Atmosphere Press, and I’m very happy with them because it’s such a collaborative experience. There are other, similar companies, among them MindStir, who refer to themselves as a self-publishing company. I’m not entirely clear as to what that means, but they claim to offer Mind-Stirringly Easy Book Publishing™ options. Their self-publishing packages include book design, editing, book printing, eBook conversion, book distribution, marketing, PR & more. They also claim they can ghostwrite your book for you. The company seems to have good reviews, though I haven’t used them myself.

Here’s a list of writing conferences happening in 2026, plus a list of other sources where you can even more, courtesy of Erica Verrillo, of Publishing and Other Forms of Insanity. As you’ll see at this link, Erica offers a ton of other useful ideas, from speculative fiction resources to free contests you can enter. A separate article features 17 Podcasts Accepting (Mostly) Speculative Short Stories . These podcasts read the winning stories. On a practical level, podcasts are a wonderful way of keeping your stories in circulation. Almost all podcasts accept reprints, and quite a few of them pay for them. Read more here.

My friend Sandy Beckwith at Build Book Buzz produces a free literary calendar each year – a list of 183 writing, reading, and literacy-related occasions. This calendar is fun and useful, maybe because the celebrations are so varied. From Read in the Bathtub Day (February 9) to World Book Day to National Speak in Complete Sentences Day (May 31) to National Memoir-Writing Month (November), there’s plenty of fodder for social media posts. Download it here

MEMBER SUCCESSES

Lisa Bernard won an Honorable mention in the Scribes Prize 2025 contest for her story, Shivering.

Doug Krohn has published a collection of his short stories, You’re The Doctor: Short Stories From Inside the Exam Room, on Kindle and Amazon:

Member Steven Rubin has a pub date of May 12, 2026 for his book , The Unraveling of Michael Galler. Preorders are now available.

I was delighted to be interviewed by member Lisa Winkler, and had an article published by BookTrib. I’m also a finalist in the Global Book Awards.

My sister, visiting from England, want me to help her make mince pies, so I’m signing off for the rest of this year. See you in 2026!