Submissions: How To Write Great Erotica

Posted on May 17, 2013 by pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Woman As Art

Woman As Art

Sex sales.  Sex can get you published.  Sex can earn you a few dollars.

The Old Soldier knows what he’s talking about.  Just take a look around this blog.

Writers use to submit work with lots of sex in it.  And that was all that was in it.  Ladies and gentlemen, a sex act is not a short story.  It’s just a sex act.

And since this blog is about writing flash fiction, I would send those sex acts back to the writers with a sentence or two about why the work was not for this publication: “There is no story here.”

What did I mean by story?

What is the importance of the sex?  What impact does it have on the lives of the characters having sex?  What’s the background of the characters and is there some hint as to what will happen to the characters after the sex is over?

If you want to write great erotica, keep this thought in mind: The best erotica is not about sex; it’s about relationships.

This is the Old Soldier blogging near the University of Pittsburgh.

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This flash fiction blog is about writing and brazen sexuality.

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Everything You Want To Know About Submissions

Posted on May 1, 2013 by pittsburghflashfictiongazette

It’s around 8:00 a.m. as I write this on a piece of paper.  I’ll transcribe it to my blog later.  The computer is downloading updates.  And it runs slow when it downloads updates.

It’s going to be a lovely day in Pittsburgh, sunny with the high in the 70s.  I’ve just taken a nice hot shower, shaved my face and head in the shower (something I learnt in the army), dressed and now I’ve assumed my favorite position: flat on my back on the sofa with two pillows under my weary head as I write this post.

I’m still working on a back log of submissions which will take me into July.  Submissions are closed until July; but when submissions open again, this is what you need to know.

There are three changes.  Now the word limit is 500 to 800 words for a flash fiction story.  I publish only flash fiction, fiction.  The fee is a flat rate of $15.00.  The fee for a poem is $5.00.

Woman As Art

Woman As Art

Although, I use to try to publish everything that was publishable, I can’t do that anymore because of the number of submissions that I get.  The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette can absorb only a few submissions each month.

In other words, to get published now on this blog you have to not only be good but you also have to be lucky; but so do generals, athletes and rock and roll bands.

I don’t want to stockpile submissions.  I plan two to three months ahead and that’s enough.

Be sure to read the submission guidelines for more details.

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The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a blog of creative writing and brazen sexuality.  This blog is published near the University of Pittsburgh. 

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Notes From The Flash Fiction Underground (15 April 2013)

Posted on April 15, 2013 by pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Woman As Art

Woman As Art

Still feeling the glow from karaoke at Nico’s in Bloomfield (Little Italy) Saturday night.  We Gotta Get Out Of This Place by The Animals sounded like the real thing.  Maybe 200 people there.

Sunday met a young woman in Sonny’s Tavern in Little Italy.  Encouraged her again to submit something to the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette in July when submissions will be open.

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Getting use to life without a television.  Taking out many more books from the public library.  Doing much more reading.  Probably the best thing for a writer.  Getting into the habit of listening to talk-radio and at night radio comedies and dramas from the 30s, 40s and 50s.  Fascinating stuff.

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Stilling working on the backlog of short stories and poems.  Should have them all cleared out by July when submissions reopen.  Then will have to be very picky about submissions.

We Gotta Get out of This Place

We Gotta Get out of This Place (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Pageviews are rising again.  Averaging 889 pageviews a day for April so far.

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This blog is for readers and writers who can appreciate serious writing and brazen sexuality in the same online publication.  This blog is published near the University of Pittsburgh.

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Writers, How Long Will Submissions Be Closed?

Posted on March 5, 2013 by pittsburghflashfictiongazette
A College Girl, A Self-Styled Geek, About To Be Gangbanged

A College Girl, A Self-Styled Nerd, About To Be Gangbanged

The Old Soldier walked to Bloomfield (Little Italy) this morning.  It’s only a 15-minute walk.  It was around 36 degrees on a sunny day.

I stopped in at Armand’s, the home of the biggest fish sandwich in the city.  I didn’t have a fish sandwich.  I sat at the bar and had a draft beer and watched sunny Liberty Avenue beyond the big window.

Then I purchased a six-pack of beer and walked back home.

So, how long will submissions be closed?

I like to say that this magazine is a blog for writers; and I don’t see how I can continue to make that claim if I don’t accept submissions for publication.

June's multi-colored eyes

June’s multi-colored eyes (Photo credit: kakissel)

Right now I have a backlog of submissions that will take me into June.  Then what?  To reopen submissions would be to repeat the same problem: too many submissions (many of them publishable) to absorb.

The Old Soldier has to give this problem more thought.

I’m proud of the fact that the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a paying market and that you can find in its pages some of the best flash fiction published on the Internet.  And I intend to keep it that way.

But the magazine’s budget is finite and I have to use my time wisely.  That, my brother and sister writers, is the rub.

Editor’s Note: Good news!  Overnight a solution has been found.  When the backlog of submissions to be published becomes too great, I’ll just close the Submissions Department until the backlog is cleared out.  This means that the new reading period begins July 2013.  Please do not submit anything until then.  Thank you.

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This is the Old Soldier reporting from Pittsburgh.

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Do You Have The Right Attitude To Write Flash Fiction?

Posted on February 23, 2013 by pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Woman As Art

Woman As Art

The Old Soldier considers flash fiction to be great entertainment and a demanding art form.  Some writers decline to write flash fiction.  They find the form too confining.  There are not enough words for them to say what they want to say.

But one writer’s confinement is another writer’s liberation.

I find flash fiction very liberating.  The fact that I have only a few hundred words to say what I want to say keeps me from saying too much.  The relatively few number of words forces a writer to dispense with the decorative and to stick with the essential.

This in itself is liberating.  Sometimes having too many options can paralyze a writer.

The very structure of the flash fiction story takes away the superfluous and leaves you with what’s necessary.  For many writers, this can be very liberating.

underword: flash fiction

underword: flash fiction (Photo credit: piglicker)

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The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette Continues To Evolve

Now that the Old Soldier has found a solution to the issue of too many submissions (unsolicited submissions will only be read during a limited time frame while the work of writers already published by the magazine will be solicited when the need for content arises) another pressing and very important issue must also be dealt with.

It is the ongoing issue of readership.

In January of 2012 this blog got around 5,000 views.  In February of 2013 this blog got around 32,000 views.  The more views the magazine gets every month the more revenue it makes; which means better financial opportunity and greater exposure for its writers.

It’s that simple.

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The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a blog for writers.  This is the Old Soldier reporting from Pittsburgh.

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