As you may know, I run a weekly Zoom write-in for the Pequot Library in Southport, Connecticut, and another on Sunday mornings for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. They’re both on Zoom – one reason why I have people attending from Scotland, Iceland, Canada, and California. If you think you’d like to join a write-in, and mine don’t work for you, there are others.
Shut Up & Write is an international organization that meets in person to write at various locations and at various times. There’s one in Stamford, CT, that meets every other week at the Barnes & Noble in Stamford. The next write-in is on January 26 at 6:15-8pm. There are other meetups in New Haven, Kent, CT, and Farmington, CT. Meeting times and days vary, so check them out.
Authors Publish is offering a free online lecture on January 23 at 1pm ET. Kindall Gant knows how to get publicity for your books. And she’s sharing how it’s done, in a free talk for writers. She’s worked as a publicist for major publishers and successful small presses, including Hachette, Phaidon, and Artbook D.A.P. If you’d like to attend, or just to watch the recording later, sign up to watch here.
Multi-six-figure author-entrepreneur Joanna Penn is offering a practical two-hour live workshop (and recording) titled: From Author to Entrepreneur, on Saturday, January 24 at 11am ET. It’s designed to help you move from “I write books” to “I run a successful creative business.” Leave with a clear vision, a simple author business plan, and concrete next steps to grow your income from your writing in 2026. $100. Find out more and sign up here.
Member Lisa Bernard offered a couple of suggestions of places to submit your work. Grande Dame Literary reopens for submissions on February 1.
She also suggested Hippocampus Magazine – reopening on March 1.
The FUMFA (Fairfield University MFA) Live Open Mic returns on Friday, February 13 at 7pm at Eco Evolution in Norwalk, CT. They’re billing it as a Valentine’s Day Mic of Love. You can reserve a 5-minute slot here
I’m often asked about how to find an editor, and the first place I suggest is the Editorial Freelancers Association, whose members work in many different genres and offer a variety of services. Here’s the place to get some idea of their rates.
Before you pay for an editor, you should make your manuscript as clean as it can be, and writing software is the kind of AI tool that I don’t mind using to do that. From free ones like Spellcheck in Word and Grammarly, which simply checks grammar, to the ones that analyze your writing, like ProWritingAid and Autocrit, they can serve a purpose and save you time. Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur has written a useful article rating various writing and book-publishing software. I was surprised at how many there are these days, and I’m even considering changing from Scrivener to Atticus – now available for Windows. He’s rated software that will help with drafting, revising, organizing chapters, getting feedback, and ultimately turning a manuscript into clean, publish-ready files that can become a book.
The writing market can be overwhelming, particularly for new authors who don’t 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 and do not require literary agents. You can submit to these publishers directly.
And the inimitable Jane Friedman has published a roundup of new publishers and agents announced in 2025, which she reports on year-round in her publishing newsletter, The Bottom Line.
Dave Chesson has also written an article about changes to Amazon’s Digital Rights Management (DRM), and they’re important for self-publishers. DRM is an industry-wide system to control how files can be accessed, copied, and shared after purchase. Choosing to make your book DRM, means it’s harder for people to copy and transmit your book without your approval. However, there are some drawbacks to DRM as well. Before January 20, 2026, regardless of whether you chose DRM or DRM-free when publishing your books, Amazon made it so that people who bought on the Kindle store could not transfer books from their Kindle to anything else. Now, if you select(ed) DRM-free, readers can move your book to different devices or transfer it… somewhere. Read the full explanation here. Or, if you’d like to watch a video on this, go here.
If you’re wishing someone else would handle your social media, you might find this information on the services available to do that. The spreadsheet is a free download from Nerdgirl Lisa Rabey, and includes info on pricing, whether there’s a free trial period, and the pros and cons of each service. Download it here. Lisa offers a slew of services designed to help writers, along with an upfront price list, which I liked. And she also had a free spreadsheet about companies that handle your email list.
MEMBER SUCCESSES
Lisa Bernard won an Honorable mention in the Scribes Prize 2025 contest for her story, Shivering.
Member Jessica Bram has published her second memoir: West End Avenue.
Katherine Williams’ latest book, Records of a Voyage is out on February 3, and available for preorder now. Or you can donwload it free on Netgalley, if you are willing to review it after reading.
Member Martin Kivell’s article on the Miller Excitement, a scandalous 19th century divorce case has been published in CONNECTICUT EXPLORED Magazine. He will talk at the Harry Bennett Library in Stamford, CT, on Wednesday, February 4, from 6-7 pm. Free admission and magazine copies. Find more information and register here.
Keep writing!
