How to Research for Narrative Storytelling: 5 Takeaways from ‘You Are A Writer’
pen.org – Wednesday June 24, 2026
For emerging writers, the research process can be riddled with questions. Where do you begin? How do you know which facts deserve a place in your story and which should be discarded? And at what point do you simply have to force yourself to put down the books you’re reading, pick up a pen, and start writing?
The first workshop in PEN America’s 2026 You Are A Writer series brought together three accomplished writers — moderator John Manuel Arias (Crocodopolis) and speakers Charmaine Craig (My Nemesis) and Judy Batalion (The Last Woman of Warsaw) — who provided guidance to early career writers on how to conduct research for narrative storytelling. If you missed the session, check out five takeaways below and make sure to register for the upcoming sessions.
1. Consider the variety of forms research can take.
Research often involves digging deep into the archive, but that’s not all it can be. Over the course of Batalion’s career, she’s also conducted plenty of interviews and on-the-ground research. For her nonfiction work The Light of Days, which provides accounts of young, Jewish women who resisted Nazism, she traveled to Będzin — and, upon her arrival, learned that the whole Polish city sat atop a hill.
“No one mentioned that [in books], because that wasn’t an important part of the World War II testimony,” Batalion said. “But when you’re writing descriptively about a place and trying to understand someone’s hiding, or their journey, or their dangerous risk-tasking effort, you need to know that.” She acknowledged that financially or otherwise, traveling to the places you’re writing about isn’t always a possibility, but said her senses aid her greatly when she can put them to use.
New Publisher Listing: Airmont Publishing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday June 24, 2026
We believe that every great book begins with a powerful idea and a passionate author. Our mission is to discover exceptional voices, develop meaningful stories, and connect authors with readers around the world.
As a traditional publishing house, we are committed to providing authors with a professional publishing experience built on editorial excellence, creative collaboration, and long-term partnership. We actively review unsolicited manuscripts and welcome submissions from both established and emerging authors whose work demonstrates originality, quality, and market potential.
Our publishing program includes literary, historical, and mystery works, as well as history, biography, narrative nonfiction, and children’s and young adult stories, along with other works that inspire, inform, and entertain readers. We work closely with our authors throughout the editorial, design, production, and distribution process to ensure every book reaches its fullest potential.
We understand that publishing is more than printing books – it's about helping authors share their ideas, stories, and expertise with the world. Our team is dedicated to maintaining high publishing standards while fostering a supportive environment where talented writers can thrive.
Whether you're a first-time author with a remarkable story or an experienced writer looking for a publishing partner, we invite you to explore the opportunities available.
We are always looking for compelling manuscripts and exceptional authors who are ready to make an impact through the power of books.
New Magazine Listing: FrontSources Magazine
firstwriter.com – Tuesday June 23, 2026
Online magazine covering media, advertising, marketing, leadership and technology, showcasing the remarkable accomplishments of businesses and entrepreneurs. Through our stories, we aim to inspire transformation, spark creativity, and enlighten professionals around the globe.
Laois author to host free creative writing workshops and publishing webinars for aspiring writers
laoistoday.ie – Monday June 22, 2026
A Laois author is set to help aspiring writers take their first steps towards publication through a series of free online workshops and publishing webinars.
Mountrath native Helen Cullen has curated the Brunel University New Writers Programme for the second year running, bringing together award-winning authors, literary agents and publishing professionals to offer guidance and support to emerging writers across Ireland and the UK.
The initiative is designed to help writers develop their craft while also providing practical advice on submitting work to publishers, literary agents, publications and writing competitions.
Speaking about the programme, Cullen said she hopes it will encourage people who have always wanted to write to take the plunge.
Australia is publishing books too quickly – and everyone is losing out
theguardian.com – Monday June 22, 2026
Thanks to rushed deadlines, financial pressure and overworked staff, titles are going to market before they’re ready – and then sliding from view immediately
A Sydney author – I’ll call her Rebecca – vowed never to write another book after the deranging experience of publishing her first. She’s using a pseudonym because one day she might change her mind; the notoriously small Australian publishing industry does not tend to look with favour on authors who complain.
When Rebecca was proofing her debut – a work of nonfiction published by one of the big five – she discovered that a pivotal chapter had been cut. “I thought it was a mistake, that it had somehow been left out of the papers they’d sent,” she says. “Turns out they’d deliberately excised it and thought I wouldn’t notice.”
The proposed cover art for the book, which was set in one country, featured an animal native to another – and when the book went to a copy editor, the questions Rebecca got back were “absolutely out of touch”. References to hunting were queried on the basis they might offend vegetarians. Big mistakes slipped through the first print run and needed to be corrected in the second, including the name of a major character, which changed suddenly halfway through. “I’d assumed the publisher would take care of these things,” Rebecca says. “It felt like they were trying to shove me out the door and get the book out.”
Independent Creative Magazines Are Making a Comeback (And Here’s Why That Matters)
fluxmagazine.com – Monday June 22, 2026
The mid-2000s through the early 2010s saw print titles fold one after another, casualties of a digital transition that nobody had quite figured out how to navigate. The ones that survived did so by chasing clicks, flattening their editorial voice, and optimizing for search engines rather than readers. The result was a decade of arts coverage that felt somehow both everywhere and nowhere, present in volume but absent in perspective.
Something has shifted. Not dramatically, not with any particular announcement, but steadily and in ways that are hard to ignore if you spend time in creative communities online. Independent digital arts publications with genuine editorial identities are finding audiences again. Not massive ones, not in the way that lifestyle content farms measure traffic, but loyal ones. Readers who come back. Readers who share because they actually want to, not because an algorithm served something in front of them.
What Killed the First Wave
The first generation of digital arts publishing made a fundamental mistake: it tried to replicate print on screen. Longer issues, PDF downloads, subscription paywalls that made sense in 1995 and almost none in 2010. The audience wasn’t there for that model and the economics were brutal. It didn’t take long to realize that flipping through a PDF version of an actual magazine is annoying.
New Literary Agent Listing: Kat Lenahan
firstwriter.com – Monday June 22, 2026
Handles children’s fiction from picture books through middle grade and young adult, with a strong interest in character-led storytelling across genres. Seeks middle grade adventures featuring friendship, mystery, humour or contemporary themes, including detective stories, heists and heartfelt narratives. Looks for tween fiction with lively contemporary voices, and young adult work driven by flawed, compelling protagonists, atmospheric settings, speculative or darker elements, or emotionally rich romance. Open to picture books that are bold and funny, excluding toilet humour.
Granta stops publishing short story award winners over AI controversy
theguardian.com – Saturday June 20, 2026
Literary magazine will no longer engage in ‘external publishing partnerships’ after Commonwealth prize furore
The prominent literary magazine Granta will no longer publish the winning entries of the annual Commonwealth short story prize after one of this year’s winners drew widespread accusations of AI use.
The magazine said it would no longer be involved in “external publishing partnerships” in which it had no editorial control.
In a statement to the Guardian, Granta said: “The 2026 selection of the regional winners of the Commonwealth prize caused a great deal of controversy, based on the speculation that one or more of the stories may have been at least partially AI-generated, accusations that were strongly rejected by the authors.
“For the sake of our own editorial integrity, the Granta Trust board has now taken the decision that we will no longer engage in external publishing partnerships. We will keep the Commonwealth prize shortlisted stories on our website in the public interest, and wish our former partner, the Commonwealth Foundation, all the best in its work.”
Scammers targeting emerging and published writers -- BEWARE!
daniellebinks.substack.com – Saturday June 20, 2026
The Lonely-Hearts-Honeypot-Catfish Publishing Scams
Publishing is currently the target of unprecedented levels of scams, made easier and more nuanced by Artificial Intelligence being able to generate and target all corners of our industry.
The Guardian investigative piece into the targeting of self-published authors, really succinctly hits on the shape these scams are taking; “New wave of publishing scams mimic lonely hearts hoaxes of old – swapping promises of true love for the fantasy of literary acclaim. And the wooing process is now fully automated.”
It’s not just that these scammers - like “lonely hearts hoaxes of old” are flattering egos and writing exactly what we all want to hear about our talents, but it’s that AI is making their spiels eerily convincing.
A Writer's Guide to Rejection Letters
poetry.arizona.edu – Friday June 19, 2026
The reality of submitting poetry to literary journals is that there are so many incredible poets doing it, and editors only have so much room in their magazines. All of us are inevitably going to face rejection in the writing world, and if we’re equipped to hit it head-on, we won’t be beaten down when we get that first “thanks but no thanks” letter. And bracing ourselves for rejection, or reframing it as proof of effort, makes us better writers in the long run.
Magazines typically accept less than 1% of the submissions they receive. In Submittable (as of March 2026), my rate of acceptance versus rejections is 174/1801, making my acceptance rate about 10%. I find that knowing this motivates me to submit more—for about every 10 pieces I send in, one will probably be accepted.
Editors are looking at thousands of submissions and can’t always provide feedback or respond personally to submissions. You’ll often see editors acknowledge this in a rejection letter. But if you volunteer to work on a literary magazine (which I highly recommend), you’ll quickly come to understand their perspective. I have read for a few magazines and contests, and when I have, I notice how quickly overwhelmed I can become. It doesn't take long for me to engage or disengage with a poem. Patterns begin to appear:
- Careless errors
- Misnaming the editor or reader
- Not following the submission guidelines
- Stylistic or aesthetic differences (readers are subjective with subjective tastes! And that's OK, but this is why magazines tell you to read before you submit; you may quickly realize just how much they vary in aesthetic interests.)
Understanding these patterns can help improve the likelihood of your work not being rejected.
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