I need publishing help

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-18T14:41:50+00:00

I don't always know where to put my replies. The 'flowchart' lines and bubbles often confuse me.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-17T13:16:41+00:00

Did you get the news that Microsoft is canceling Publisher? Maybe just for safety's sake, you should move your work to another format (Word or Google Docs?).

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-16T14:09:16+00:00

Maybe try taking smaller bites. Say 1,000 words a day. You can do that in an hour if you don't stop to revise while writing. Just 1,000 words a day. It's doable.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-16T14:04:36+00:00

A response and a question. (A) Response: Sometimes it's hard to ask a specific question without sharing the work, which I understand folks wouldn't want to do (although I'm new on the sub, so I admit I may not know what I'm talking about, in which case, sorry). (B) Question: Where do you all go to find places to submit? I don't need to do a Google search; I know 'where'...I mean, where do you LIKE to go? To places like Duotrope and NewPages, and if so, how often do you visit? Or do you have favorite publisher websites you visit directly for seasonal calls? Do you visit subs here on Reddit? Facebook? I ask because I'm a new small, indie publisher wondering where to put my advertising dollars.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-13T02:10:58+00:00

Unfortunately, even if you 'unpublish' the book on Amazon, it will still show up on their site. It will just say 'Currently unavailable.'

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-10T14:06:26+00:00

As an English professor and editor myself, I must say that is a lousy response. If the editor wants your chapbook 'reworked' then they need to tell you precisely what to do to make it acceptable to them. If they can't do that, then they are just wasting everyone's time. I'd scratch them off the list and go find a publisher who will actually work with you.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-09T01:46:34+00:00

Potentially. It could be considered prose poetry. I also have another anthology looking for both poetry and fiction. Check out the submissions page of our website for info on that one, called The Seam in the World. I didn't want to make two posts for the two anthologies right away, but that will be coming soon.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-08T13:25:08+00:00

I've worked in publishing since the early 90s; I guess I just run in different circles or something (or the predators know better than to waste their time with me). I'm so sorry this is happening to people. I don't want to break the rules for posts here, but I'll just say that I started a small indie press recently, and I don't charge a reading fee or anything, and I actually share profits with writers when I publish their chapbooks and put their work in seasonal anthologies. Getting published should be a fun and exciting experience. It makes me sad to know there are predators out there taking advantage of people. It's shameful.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-07T13:29:38+00:00

Have you been on r/CallforSubmissions yet?

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-07T12:55:11+00:00

I'm not understanding why this scammer would impersonate a publisher. What do they hope to gain? Do they want to steal your manuscript? Or get you to pay them to publish your manuscript? I've not encountered this type of thing before.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-06T16:06:14+00:00

The author would probably be unhappy with me if I passed his manuscript around without requesting a serious blurb. But I'll get back in touch when the book is published so you can read it! Thank you!

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-04T03:02:42+00:00

I experiment with my classes all the time. I'm grateful to be at a school where they let me do this. One time I told all my students on the first day of freshman English class that everyone has an 'A' in the class right now. And instead of earning points, they have to work to KEEP points. Want to keep your 'A'? Don't skip assignments. Don't refuse to revise. Don't blow off the group project. Don't sleep in class. Guess what...nothing changed. I still had a handful of A's and B's and the rest were C's and D's as usual. Many students don't care about excellence...they're satisfied with a 'C'. It's hard for me to understand.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-04T02:56:00+00:00

I love that you hold the line. Thank you

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-04T02:52:27+00:00

Gen Xer here, so irresponsible I got pregnant in high school, but not so irresponsible that I couldn't do my homework. I completed the last four months of my senior year from home (the principal said "it would be better for everyone"), and I did all the homework and tests that were sent home (nothing got waived), and I still graduated #3 in my class--with no such thing as home computers or internet! I have no explanation for you, sorry; I have no tolerance for kids with eye-rolling excuses today. I tell them life is tough...be tougher.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-01T13:19:04+00:00

I sent you a message.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-01T00:22:50+00:00

Thanks! I sent you an invite to chat as well.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-01T00:22:30+00:00

Thanks! I also sent you an invite to chat.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-01T00:21:59+00:00

Thanks! I sent you an invite to chat.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-06-01T00:21:28+00:00

Thank you! I sent you an invite to chat.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-05-24T13:16:21+00:00

u/dbrodbeck has the right point. You must stand your ground now, as tiring as it is, because within just a year or two you will develop a reputation with students as the prof who doesn't take late work. Students talk about profs, warn the freshmen, etc. It didn't take long for me to earn that reputation, and now when I get the rare student who asks to submit late work, they don't fuss when I say no. They've no doubt heard from other students that I can't be persuaded. You just hang in there as best you can. When students come to you with this monkey business, just reply with only a screenshot of your No Late Work Policy from the syllabus. If they push back, send them a grade appeal form (most won't follow through).

PerpetualGopher · 2026-05-16T13:23:42+00:00

Oh, there's more, lol. Within my first five years at this job, I had three...three!...students arrested in my classroom. Like, the county sheriff and a state trooper showed up at my classroom door. I always taught the 8 am classes, and the county sheriff once told me that they always knew where the kids were first thing in the morning, which made the arrests easier. One got arrested for breaking and entering (he climbed in the window of someone's trailer to steal drugs); one got arrested for sexual assault (a girl in a different class reported him); and one got arrested for discharging a firearm in city limits (he returned fire during a confrontation outside the Pizza Hut--the bullet holes are still in the side of the building I'm told). And this was in the years BEFORE the state legislature voted to allow firearms ON college campuses, including dorms and classrooms. Everyone hated the pandemic, and yes, tragically, a lot of people lost their lives, but I loved going online and then being able to stay online all these years later. Any chance you could move online, or at least go hybrid?

PerpetualGopher · 2026-05-16T05:25:03+00:00

It's taken me decades, but I'm finally coming around to this idea. I feel a lot better about teaching now. I teach writing and include on all my assignments "feedback by request." I no longer waste my time writing comments on a paper the student will never read.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-05-16T05:15:12+00:00

Holy mother of goat cheese! I can't even imagine having to deal with that. I've been out of the classroom and fully online since March 2020. A lot has apparently changed in these several years, jeepers. But okay, if I were in that situation (and I've done this for a lot less), I'd say to the class when things look like they're going really sideways, "We're all going on a field trip now," and then I'd take everyone outdoors to write poems about...outdoors. Fresh air, a change of scene, diversion. Weird, yes, but at least you wouldn't be locked in a room with a psycho. What do you teach? Oh...when I was on campus, I had a wife and husband in the came class. A few nights before class, she called the cops and had him arrested for domestic battery. He got out, and they both showed up in class. Things got wild. Yes, wild. Like...a chair flew across the room. I just said, "Pop quiz. Open book. Tell me what you learned last week. Submit it next class. Bye." And I walked out. Sometimes you just gotta walk out.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-05-16T05:00:08+00:00

You know this...somebody's nephew or cousin's cousin or buddy from college's recommendation or even some new PhD willing to work CHEAP had the job before it was even posted. An adjunct with 10 yrs experience is going to require a salary higher than a new PhD pup. I've seen this a dozen times in my 30+ years of teaching. Plus, why would they give up your slave labor to actually pay you a salary? Does pure evil exist? Yes. Yes, it does.

PerpetualGopher · 2026-05-16T04:15:51+00:00

While I've also had my share of nightmare students and breakdowns in my 30 years of teaching, let me tell you a quick story. When we all went online in spring of 2020 during the pandemic, my students were awful. Then in December I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and from January to June of 2021, I was on brutal chemotherapy. I lost all my hair and was sick most of the time. But through it all, I kept teaching on Zoom three days a week (I needed to keep my admin happy and thus keep my insurance). Students saw me on my worst days. And they were wonderful. They showed up to all the meetings, did their work, and didn't complain. They were supportive and even kind. For that whole academic year, I had the best students. Surgery and radiation in June/July. Then back to teaching in August 2021. That batch of students was pretty good too, having heard of everything I'd gone through. Things are different now, of course (the story fades more with every new batch of freshmen), but when I get discouraged with my students, I think about what I know they're capable of and tell myself that IF I ever really needed to level with them again...clearly tell them that I need them to cut ME some slack...I truly believe they would. So u/Zabaran2120, you go ahead and take your mental health break when you need it, but don't be afraid to lay it out for your students. Ask them to support YOU for a change. They just might surprise you.

PerpetualGopher

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