I want to do a thread on "Small Press Red Flags" brought to you by years in the trenches combined with some issues I’m seeing pop up again in writer circles. Note: an isolated incident might not be a red flag, but cumulative flags are always worth examination. First off: Let’s talk about money.

Application is now live! splitlippress.submittable.com/submit/34211...

We've removed the paywall from this guide so everyone can access it. 👇 Stay safe.

Anyone who wields a gun with state power should never be allowed to conceal their face. Pass it on.

*taps sign*

Hot Flash Literary is open for subs through Feb. 20th!! Theme: Fire and Ice: hotflashliterary.com/submissions/ #microfiction #flashfiction #women

Submissions to our annual summer flash fiction series are now open!

Here’s some things that can be done by a party out of power - file impeachment articles every day in the House - withhold unanimous consent in the senate and filibuster every nominee - be everywhere with comms saying this is lawless and impeachable

Make it viral.

Evergreen: The first thing cops say after an incident is always a lie.

what this should make clear to everyone in this country is that it does not matter who you are, there's no "it could never happen to me" you can be a white woman who drives around with stuffed animals in her car, and they will still kill you in cold blood and call you a domestic terrorist

An oft-neglected format in commercial publishing, the novella offers the interior world of a novel with the added advantage of brevity.

You know that feeling when you've finally written the thing that's been dogging you for years, and you've nailed it? I want to bottle this feeling and sample it when I'm stuck or uninspired. This is what it's all for.

Daily bunny no.3192 is tampering with the past

starting in three weeks! a semester-length online class for emerging speculative fiction writers in search of structure, support, and accountability. I've taught this class before and it was a blast, so I'm excited to offer it again. register here: hugohouse.org/product/spec...

A wise man once said to never interrupt your enemies while they're making a mistake.

Just remember. You are not stuck in here with a bunch of terrible posters. They are stuck in here with you

my 75yo mother told me last night that she’s planning to delete Instagram and Facebook because she’s sick of not being able to tell what’s AI and what’s not, and I genuinely don’t think tech companies have reckoned with this kind of move as an actual possibility

You know what? Not everything scales. And that’s okay. Better than okay. Write poems that reach a few people, maybe. Then write some more poems.

The vaccine autism thing is bullshit but even if you believed it, it seems incredibly fucked up to then believe that raising child death rates is some sort of worthwhile trade-off to reduce autism rates

I was on hold so long that the answering service hung up on me.

@susurrusmag.bsky.social's 2026 @bestmicrofiction.bsky.social Nomination: "Crown Shyness" by @chelseastickle.bsky.social

Congrats Chelsea, it's a beautiful piece! 💜

2025 was mostly garbage, but there were some good moments. One of my favorites was when a family of beavers built a dam in just a few days, saving the Czech Republic 30 million Czech koruna (US$1.2 million) for a wetland restoration project the government had been planning for 7 years. 🦫 🌿

apply! teach and mentor cool students in a great literary city! get twin cities pilled!

Plain and simple my politics is that nobody should be wealthy enough to make their insecurities my problem.

The Welkin Prize is a free submission so the prize money is generously funded by @mattkendrick.bsky.social. If you entered the contest this year, good luck! And maybe consider going the extra mile and donating whatever you can afford to help Matt out.

Love this from Guillermo del Toro

This is the inspiration I needed today 💚

I can’t afford a fancy panic room, I have to panic where ever I am, like some kind of peasant

Beyond honored to receive a Best Micro nomination for this story that's so close to my heart! Thank you to the @susurrusmag.bsky.social editors! And good luck to my fellow nominees!

🎉Congratulations to our 2026 @altcurrent.bsky.social Best Small Fictions Nominations & @bestmicrofiction.bsky.social Nominations!🎉

A gorgeous prose poem, @chelseastickle.bsky.social 💙

"We brush our fingertips across each other’s collarbones as our secrets spill into the moonlight where they are seen but not exposed" So beautiful @chelseastickle.bsky.social

“Exhaustion rolls in like the tide. We beg for sleep and prostrate ourselves before the deities of the dark.” Oh, the things whispered between two people. Gorgeous new prose poem by @chelseastickle.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social

You were moved to do this by pride and by hate. Is it any wonder the result was ruin?

I say this often but it bears repeating: if you make your money from creating art then you NEED to find an art or craft where you just do it for fun and don't try to be perfect or make any money from it, and when anyone tells you to monetise it you say 'No', because otherwise your soul will die.

By the way, Kaleidotrope is open again to cover art submissions. As with everything, nothing AI-generated or assisted, but reprints are more than acceptable. You'll find the full guidelines, along with where to email me links to your portfolios or galleries, here:

“Secrets wisp into ears and out the windows into the fresh air where, weightless and powerless, they can finally dissipate. ‘You’re my best friend,’ we say.” @chelseastickle.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social lost-balloon.com/2025/12/31/i...

The whole "Grok admits" "Grok apologizes" thing reminds me of the famous IBM presentation quote that evidently everyone has forgotten. And I do think representing your brand on social media counts as a "management decision".

Holy fuck @chelseastickle.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social with this 🔥🔥🔥"We brush our fingertips across each other’s collarbones as our secrets spill into the moonlight where they are seen but not exposed because neither of us could handle that."

“Exhaustion rolls in like the tide. We beg for sleep and prostrate ourselves before the deities of the dark.” @chelseastickle.bsky.social

🚨The 5th annual Blue Frog flash fiction contest is now open!! flash-frog.com/submit/

Deadline extended! We are now accepting submissions to our Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers through January 8. The winning entry will receive $1500. Head to the link in our bio to submit your work!

Pass it on! Tenured, associate professor position in Black and Latinx Studies--reopened until Jan 5. Includes research budget, summer salary, great program, colleagues, students in NYC. cuny.jobs/new-york-ny/...

Beginning of the year plea: I am always on the lookout for collections of weird fiction by nonwhite authors, especially those that will be published in 2026. If you wrote one or are publishing one or just know of one, please get in touch. doomsdayer.wordpress.com/contact

Short Story, Long submissions are open.

Love this @newworldwriting.bsky.social story by @kimmagowan.bsky.social newworldwriting.net/kim-magowan-...

I needed this today. After the first read, I went back up to the beginning and let go inside the rhythm.