My guests today on CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY are Jennifer Acker and Emily Everett, the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor of literary magazine The Common. Jennifer and Emily are also both accomplished novelists.
Today, we talk about:
what an editor at a literary magazine does
how they find submissions and how they choose what to publish at The Common
what makes a great writing mentor
the differences in writing short fiction and non-fiction vs longer-form books
advice for aspiring writers on how to decide what to write and the shape of your career
advice for authors on the eve of their book's publication
and so much more.
🎥 Video version: Click on the video above to watch now
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🎧 Audio version:
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» Past podcast episodes live HERE.
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Want more of Emily, Jennifer, and The Common?
Check out The Common or submit your writing for consideration.
Jennifer Acker is founder and editor in chief of The Common, and author of the debut novel The Limits of the World, which was one of three fiction honorees for the Massachusetts Book Award. Her memoir “Fatigue” is a #1 Amazon bestseller, and her short stories, essays, translations, and reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, Literary Hub, n+1, Guernica, The Yale Review, Off Assignment, and Ploughshares, among other places. Acker has an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and teaches writing and editing at Amherst College, where she directs the Literary Publishing Internship and LitFest. She lives in western Massachusetts with her husband.
Emily Everett is managing editor at The Common literary magazine, and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellow in Fiction. Her new novel, All That Life Can Afford, is available in bookstores or your favorite online retailer.
Emily’s short story “Solitária” was selected as a runner-up for the Kenyon Review’s 2019 Short Fiction Contest, and other short fiction has appeared in Electric Literature, Tin House, and Mississippi Review, among others. She received her BA in literature and music from Smith College, and her MA in literature from Queen Mary University of London. She also studied at University College London and Birkbeck University of London.
You can also follow Emily on Instagram.
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