Kuma2.net Blog

MARKET: When Women Gather
Editor: Claudia Moss
Deadline: January 11, 2011
Payment: $50/story and 1 copy of the book upon publication

At some point in life, women have stood in the presence of other women and known authentic power and healing energy and the beauty of the erotic, and as a result of this experience, have been transformed, in some way, into a greater vision of self. The forthcoming anthology, When Women Gather, will depict what this phenomenon feels like, tastes like and looks like, through a range of unique short stories, essays, personal accounts and narrative poetry.

I am seeking well-written, literary submissions from women young and old, from every corner of the globe, from the published and unpublished. Submissions can be erotic, sensual, romantic, political, spiritual or humorous and fictional or nonfiction. Embrace your imagination.

Ponder writing about refugee women and girls banning together in a strange land, a street of women who come together to rid the neighborhood of a crack house, women who pray together in drumming or humming circles to excise the world of negative energy, women who embrace the erotic in the taboo of loving one another, women who must survive in a country where they do not speak the language, refuge women who watch family members extradited back to poverty-stricken or war-torn countries, women who camp under the stars in North Georgia mountains at women’s festivals or women who meet in a nursing home to honor a matriarch. I’m flexible but not taboo friendly, so please no incest, underage characters, or bestiality.

Stories should be unpublished, between 1,500 and 4,000 words, and submitted as a Word attachment. Two (2) submissions are allowed per writer. Please include a cover letter with a paragraph bio and full contact info (mailing address, phone number, and real name/pseudonym) when you send your submissions. All submissions that fail to adhere to these directives will be deleted unread.

Payment will be $50/story and 1 copy of the book upon publication. Contributors retain the rights to their stories. The editor has the final approval over the manuscript.
Send your submissions as a Word document to whenwomengatherbook@gmail.com.

If you have any questions about When Women Gather, please query whenwomengatherbook@gmail.com.

Manuscripts will be accepted on a rolling basis, so writers are encouraged to submit early.

Just FYI – The Kuma2.net Facebook page gets updated way more frequently than this blog. If you  follow us on Facebook, you would already know that:

• You only have a few more weeks (until October 28th) to buy the limited edition version of Family.
• The Director of black womyn/conversations has put the entire “Coming Out” segment online – for a limited time only.
• Selly Thiam was a recent guest on Sippin On Ink.
• Essence.com has for the first time featured a Black Lesbian couple in it’s Bridal Bliss section.

Publishing ABC’s

by Anondra “Kat” Williams, host of Sipping On Ink

At the end of one of my shows I was pondering if the world of writing and publishing had changed or is changing due to the growing popularity of Lesbian literature. I also wondered if a down economy affected niche writers. Since I know a few folks I figured why not just ask those doing it, it being writing and publishing.

Now imagine if you can a lunch with four very popular but diverse writers, imagine also that they are all lesbians and to make it even better they are black. Imagine a very nosey radio show host sitting in the middle and thinking this is just about perfect. I can imagine all of this and with the power of technology I’ve managed to achieve it long distance. Joining me at the table are S. Renee Bess, Cheril N. Clarke, Tawanna Sullivan and C.D. Kirven. I’m in the middle–nosey radio host Kat Williams.

If the names aren’t familiar then you haven’t been reading much in the last year or so, well at least nothing from the lesbian fiction aisle of your local bookstore or online site (if you haven’t figured it out by now, we didn’t all meet for lunch but thanks to the power of Ma Bell and speed typing of yours truly we did talk, well they talked and I typed). If you don’t know my name, well just shame on you.
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