Happy Saturday, readers, writers, and shark fans! Welcome back to Lit Shark’s Friday Feed! Every Friday or Saturday, we share our favorite content from the week (in case you missed it), new submission calls, and what else we have in the works. (And if you’d like to read an extended version with more insider content, sign up for our official newsletter, Lit Shark’s Deep Dive.)
Keep reading this Friday Feed for multiple submission opportunities, our favorite publications from the week, and a little bit about what is to come.
First of All, Where Are All the Sharks? (Call for Submissions)
We received a fair number of submissions for Issue 7 of Lit Shark Magazine: The SHARK WEEK Edition, and excellent submissions at that, but we are almost done reading the submissions we received for the issue, and even if we accepted all of the remaining submissions, we still wouldn’t have enough for a full issue.
That’s where you come in! Many of you already submitted (thank you so much!), but if you have more work you’re eager to find a home for that you believe fits this theme, you are more than welcome to send it. Also, if you know someone who enjoys writing about marine life, Shark Week, etc., now would be the time to send them our way. Our submission info is here.
Though submissions technically closed on the 15th, we are reopening our submissions for Issue 7 now, and they will remain open until Sunday, September 1, 2024. Please submit as soon as possible, but no later than September 1. We’re still very interested in publishing this issue as close to the beginning of September as possible, so your work will be published very soon after that.
If you’ve moved beyond Issue 7, that’s okay! If you’re interested in submitting to something else, we also have Issue 8: The Spooky (TEETH) Edition, which will still be open for submissions for September and part of October.
ICYMI, Lit Shark Style
Our greatest excitement this week, of course, was centered around the release of Issue 6 of Lit Shark Magazine: The SHARK DOG Edition. If you haven’t checked out the issue yet, the free PDF is available now, and the paperback edition will be available to purchase on Amazon this coming week. It’s a beautiful issue, and we’re excited to share it with you.
This week was also National Rainbow Baby Day, and we shared the publication of Morgan Danielle‘s debut children’s book, What Took You So Long, Little One? A Story for the Mommas Who Had To Wait. The book is a beautiful representation of what mothers go through waiting for their babies, and poetically, what the baby does while waiting for their mommas. It’s poetic, sweet, has gorgeous artwork, and it would be a lovely way for moms to introduce their children to the concept of rainbow babies, as well as take solace in themselves.
Our excitement had a bite and was barbed with quills (in a good way!) when Elmo and his HiHo Kids friends met Sarah the Marine Biologist, who shared several sea creatures (some models and some alive), including a Great White Shark jaw, reminds us of the importance of participating in coastal cleanup, learning more about recycling, throwing your trash away (and maybe grabbing someone else’s left behind trash when you see it), and never EVER throwing trash in the ocean! And you just HAVE to see Elmo’s impeccable dolphin impression! It’s hilariously adorable (very Elmo).
We’re always excited to share when members of our community experience tremendous success, so we’re pleased to share the news of Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas’s latest poetry collection, A Shared & Sacred Space, and Sandra Noel’s debut collection, Into the Under, that both came out this summer! Our Editor-in-Chief had the honor of writing a blurb for the covers of both of these books, and both of these works are beautifully well-written, lyrical, imagistic, and if you’re looking for a few more titles for your 2024 Sealey Challenge, or if you’re looking to add a few new poetry collections to your personal collection that are highly focused on nature, animals, and family, definitely consider these!
Finally, we wanted to share a little news from McKenzie, our EIC, which we hope you’re okay with hearing about. Since 2010, she’s been working in the publishing industry and involving herself in the literary scene in various ways—and her earliest projects were in editing, dissertation editing and publication, and submission reading and curation. Soon after, she started offering editing services on her author website, which later grew to be a full range of services (from alpha and beta reading, to editing, to publishing and marketing assistance) as her experience in the industry grew. McKenzie revamped her services this summer to “The Path to Peaceful Publishing,” to practice peaceful, mindful, and intentional writing and publishing, rather than running in the rat race and treating our art strictly as a side hustle. If you or someone you know ever needs a beta reader, editor, designer, illustrator, or someone to help you with your book marketing and author growth, McKenzie offers discounted rates to members of the Lit Shark community, and she’s also feeding a large portion of her profits back into Lit Shark. By supporting her, you’re supporting the payment of Lit Shark’s writers, poets, artists, and contributors. Thank you for listening!
Poem of the Month
Submit to Lit Shark’s Poem of the Month Contest
Lit Pup Magazine Minis!
Seeking: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Book Excerpts from Children Writers, Teen Writers, AND Professional Writers of Children’s Books, Middle-Grade, and YA.
Also Interested In: Artwork, Marine-Life Coloring Book Pages, Activities That Get Children and Teens Outside (Preferably Involving Water), and Activities/Lessons About Recycling, Etc.
We’ve admittedly received very few submissions since Lit Shark began for Lit Pup Magazine. We’ve been much more focused on promoting Lit Shark Magazine, but we still believe in providing a fun and accessible space for kids and teens to write, create, and learn about marine life.
But we need your help! We have a few submissions we accepted who are patiently waiting for a home. Since submissions have been slow, we’re going to start off by publishing Lit Pup Magazine “minis” once every three to four months (we’d like to release the first mini during September and the second mini right before winter break in mid-December).
These will appear as free PDFs on our site, just like the free PDF versions of Lit Shark Magazine, and they will receive the same love and care in their curation and design as Lit Shark Magazine. At the end of the academic year, a full issue of Lit Pup will be released—with a compilation of all of the works from the minis that year, as well as some new and exclusive pieces.
We plan to include poetry, fiction, and essays from kids, teens, and professional writers of children’s books, middle-grade, and young adult literature. We also will make the Lit Pup issues more “interactive” by including writing prompts and space to write, marine life coloring pages (designed by me unless other artists volunteer), and activities that encourage us to go outside (scavenger hunts, writing prompts, creative journaling exercises, etc.). By releasing the full issue right before summer break, we hope this will encourage young writers to continue their creative passions and to meaningfully connect with nature all summer long… and when they come back from summer break, we’ll have a submission call for the new academic year waiting for them to tell us all about their favorite moments from summer!
If you have work that is appropriate for children or teens, or if you have a kid or teen in your life who loves writing poetry, telling stories, or creating art (especially marine life and nature pictures), we’d love to hear from all of you. Lit Pup is BY children and teens… and FOR children and teens, and we’d love to bring Lit Pup, little by little, to reality!
Back to School Season
September 1st and throughout the first week of September, we have some surprises up our sleeves. By then, we’ll be all caught up on our Poem of the Month contest winners, and we’ll hopefully, with your help, have all the submissions we need for a complete issue for Issue 7 of Lit Shark Magazine: The SHARK WEEK Edition. Yays all around!
But since it’s also Back-to-School season, we’re also excited to share some new things that are perfect for this time of year, like… notebooks?!
And for those of you who enjoy reading serialized stories, we are launching something super special that the Lit Shark community will be able to read and be a part of, starting in September.
What is something you’d like to see more of during back-to-school season (whether you’re a parent, teacher, student, or just get a general thrill from all the back-to-school goodies)?!
We’d love to hear what you look for every year and are always disappointed not to find.
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