March 25, 2019–Martin Luther King Jr. leads a group of 25,000 to the state capital in Montgomery, Ala. (1965); John Lennon and Yoko Ono stage a bed-in for peace in Amsterdam. (1969)
Contents:
I. Published authors
II. On Plagiarism
III. A Few Words on Rejections
IV. Prompt announcement
V. Featured on the front page
Hi, folks! Here’s your Literally Literary News — Monday Edition!
I. Published authors
It’s no surprise we’ve got some extremely talented writers at Literally Literary. I love to see this. I know, from experience, that it’s a lot of work (on top of a lot of work!).
This is shout out to some of our writers who have their work available in print/electronic print.
Steve B Howard — Link to Author’s Page
Edward Punales — Link to Author’s Page
Sylvia Clare — Link to Author’s Page
If you write for Literally Literary and have your work published in print/electronic print (e.g. Kindle, Nook, etc.), drop us an email and we’ll mention it in the following LL Newsletter.
II. On Plagiarism
The worst job I have here is removing an author for misconduct.
I recently had to remove an author for plagiarism. Being a writer, as well as an editor here, it absolutely galls me to think of someone passing off my work as their own. Fortunately, we caught it early.
Yes, we do check, so please don’t do it. I hate that I even have to bring it up here. I can’t imagine anyone reading this could possibly think it’s okay to do. If you do then let me disabuse you: It’s not okay.
If we find you’ve plagiarized someone’s work, you’re out. Plain and simple. If there is any doubt, we will, of course, allow you to explain, but there better be a spectacular story involved.
This is a zero tolerance issue. Don’t do it.
III. A Few Words on Rejections
I (Heath ዟ writing here) have had my writing rejected from publications as recently as 2 weeks ago. It happens. It can be demoralizing, I know. It can be frustrating, trust me, I know. I tell you this because we sometimes have to reject pieces and I need you to know that I’ve been there, many times.
I don’t like censorship. I’m not sure how much of a ‘hot-button’ topic this is elsewhere in the world, but the time I spent growing up in the U.S. instilled a righteous ire at the very idea. It’s seen as something approaching ‘evil’ under most circumstances. There is a rationale behind this that I won’t go into here (feel free to bug me if you really want to know my thoughts on it), but suffice it to say, I’m not a fan.
At Literally Literary we have 3 editors from 3 different nations, and while we don’t always agree on things, we work in harmony with each other to run this publication. This will, occasionally, result in material being rejected that is not in the best interest of the publication, our other writers, or our reading community. This is never intended to suppress free expression, as there are many many places to publish on Medium.
What this often means, however, is that, while we value artistic expression above pretty much anything else, there is a delicate balance to strike with so many writers and a very large community of readers. Without going into too many details, it doesn’t mean it’s not good writing. It often means that there are some topics which are so pervasive that we value (and hope you do, too) being able to come here knowing you can just read without the same old bat bonking you on the head.
There are other times when a piece takes a sensitive subject matter (which, in and of itself, is fine) and mishandles it to a degree that it needs to go back to the author. Sometimes this is slight and can be discussed with some minor editing, but sometimes it’s just too pervasive to the piece.
Sometimes a piece makes generalizations about a group of people, which, even if not intentional, makes them feel less welcome here. Whether I agree with it or not, LL is a place for all people, but not necessarily all topics.
We hope you understand that it isn’t ever done lightly or with malice. If you ever feel like you’ve had a piece rejected unfairly, I (Heath ዟ) will be happy to review it, but only if you take the time to explain why you feel it was rejected unfairly, otherwise you’re asking me to go around an Editor that I trusted enough to put in charge of their section in the first place.
IV. Prompt announcement
We’ll be sending out information on a new prompt shortly (today, if possible), so keep an eye out for it!
V. Featured on the front page
A new batch of Editor’s Picks for the Top 25 section on the front page! Great job, folks!
One Ticket, Please by David Farr
The Bridge by Gosia Rokicka
Running With the Wolves by Anna Rozwadowska
Snowfall by Danny Cherry Jr
Bring it On by Harry Hogg
The Dreamer by Suze Hudson
The Ripest Fruit (V in Spring) by Guérin Asante
All the Lonely People by Mike Essig
A Buzz by Theo Beecroft
None of This is Real by Sylvia Clare
That’s it for now! We hope you have a fantastic day!
As always, with our sincerest regards,
