Middle West Press

Praise for “CRYPTIDS, KAIJU & CORN"!

“[T]he visceral heartbeats of grit, horror, and rural life come together to linger provocatively on the reader’s mind!”
— Sirrah Medieros, editor of “Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell: An LGBTQ+ Horror Anthology” @tundraswanpress.bsky.social

More info: amzn.to/47buzvn

this is wonky stuff and is also really important

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

30% UNLOCKED! For the first time, Apex will open to nonfiction pitches. We are expanding our nonfiction editorial team! ZZ Claybourne has been our nonfiction editor for the past couple of years, and is doing a fantastic job. His editorial eye has elevated Apex’s nonfiction and has helped us discover many new voices. Rodney Carlstrom will be joining the Apex team as an associate nonfiction editor to help ZZ manage submitted nonfiction pitches.

cow floating in space with some astronauts next to the current Kickstarter number, "$6,000!"

WE'RE 30% FUNDED!! 🎉🎉🎉 Apex will be open to nonfiction pitches FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! ✨

Want to unlock the next chapter of Apex? Please consider backing our Kickstarter and help us keep publishing the strange, surreal, shocking, beautiful stories you love!

www.kickstarter.com/.../apexpu.....

I'M PUBLISHED!!

My micro-story, "The Family Farm" is included in this new anthology from Middle West Press, available TODAY in ebook and print!

Check it out now, along with the 50+ other stories and poems about monsters in the American Midwest.

AABB Author Sign-Up Form Hello! We're Authors Against Book Bans, a group of authors who’ve come together to protect and promote the freedom to read on both the national and local levels. We’re creating a network of authors to...

It's banned books week and so I'm legally obligated to bully you, a person who has ever had their name on a book, into joining @authorsabb.bsky.social.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We fight the source of book bans with calls to action, partnership w everyone in the game, and offer training.

I have a bunch of these I stick in places

The @thedeadlands.com annual fundraiser is here! Get a gorgeous custom coin, plus cool singed books, including the fancy German editions of Wendy, Darling and Hooked!

Spruce Henge

Spruce Henge

Sunrise over Lake Superior

*marc rebillet alarm song*

a man in a black suit is walking down stairs ALT: a man in a black suit is walking down stairs

Teachers of #Frankenstein - anyone have favorite essays/articles you like to use with undergraduates that engage the novel in terms of artificial intelligence (AI)? Thanks!

LET'S LAUNCH THIS BOOK! The GRAPHIC RAGE VIRTUAL BOOK LAUNCH: Tuesday, October 7, 8:00pm ET, registration link in bio

Happy Publication Day to @aubreyhirsch.bsky.social and her incredible comic collection GRAPHIC RAGE: COMICS ON GENDER, JUSTICE, AND LIFE AS A WOMAN IN AMERICA!!!

Time to celebrate! Aubrey will be in conversation with @robhollywood.bsky.social TONIGHT at 8pm ET--registration info in our bio. 🎉🎉🎉

Madness arrived as a welcome visitor. She brought gifts of manic merriment and wine, often spilling secrets, most of them were mine. One part benevolent, one part sinister yet her presence felt immaculate, divine, as Madness arrived, a welcome visitor bringing gifts of manic merriment and wine. On my heart, she neatly penned her signature. In her absence I shake, weep, and pine. The allure of her presence as if by design as Madness arrives, a welcome visitor. She brings gifts of manic merriment and wine often spilling secrets, most of them are mine.

I'm not sure it turned out how I initially meant it to. May revisit the "Madness as visitor" concept later on down the line without the form. But it was fun to attempt and embellish the #madrigal as it was. Enjoy 🤗

#promptcombo #visitor #5amwritersclub #6amwritersclub #poemaday #poem #poetry

Book cover of "Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn" anthology features a giant, shambling creature towering over a lone humanoid figure walking through a flowery forest. Text reads: "NOW ON SALE! More than 50 fresh visions and explorations regarding the ‘forgotten’ terrain and deep recesses of the American Midwest!"

NEW! HAUNTING VISIONS OF 'FLYOVER COUNTRY!'

“Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters”
- Print: amzn.to/47buzvn
- Kindle e-book: amzn.to/3ZSvQn0

Short poems & 300-word narratives that illuminate, celebrate, or challenge stereotypes of Midwestern identity!

2025 workshops It's Lit: Literary Magazine Submissions. October 29 @ 7PM EST. THE RANDOMIZER #1. November 6 @ 7pm EST. No Choice But to Stan: Writing Pop Culture in Poetry. November 15 @ 12pm EST Writing to Grieve: Poetry as Processing. November 22 @ 12pm EST THE RANDOMIZER #2. TBD late November.

About your instructor nat raum is a queer, disabled, and recently unemployed artist and writer based on unceded Piscataway and Susquehannock land in Baltimore. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing with a focus in Poetry, and have served as an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art and The University of Baltimore. They’re the author of 22 books of poetry, all of which were proudly published independently.

icymi, i lost my job and am running some workshops to make money to uh, live?

tickets for the first run of THE RANDOMIZER are up now at natraum.com/links. the rest are coming soon!

I'll admit that for my entire life as a Canadian I have been a little unsure of what exactly Americans mean when they say "Midwest", so this is helpful. From now on I'll think of it as "from the middle to the east." (We don't have a leg to stand on, given where we put "Central Canada.")

NVN Thursday: MASS SHOOTING #6 14201 2nd Ave, Gabrielle Apartments & Townhomes, Highland Park, MI, Sep 28 2025

NVN Thursday at Substack: Ron Riekki’s @rriekki.bsky.social #newspoem “MASS SHOOTING #6” thenewversenews.substack.com/p/nvn-thursd...
@writingcommunity.bsky.social @rodmannix.bsky.social
@literarycommunity.bsky.social

New work by Middle West Press poet Ron Riekki (2022's "Blood / Not Blood ...") takes on the topic of gun violence in America.

More info on "Blood / Not Blood ... Then the Gates":
- Print: amzn.to/3fxE6oi
- Kindle: amzn.to/3OhvPQU

I tear up old poems.
Stick them to the wall.
Listen to their groans.
Wait for the silence
to come like night.

Then I paint over them.

Serenity and the Myth of "Getting Out the Signal" - Reactor We want to believe that knowledge will change the world for the better, but it's not always that simple.

20 years after Serenity, @thenerdypriest.bsky.social wrestles with a core premise of science fiction stories. When the world is at stake, is "getting out the truth" really enough?

reactormag.com/serenity-and...

Pro rate fantasy mag trying to get off the ground!

Open Call: Radon Journal February 2026 Issue ( @radonjournal.bsky.social‬ )
horrortree.com/taking-submi...
Due: Dec 31
Pay: Fiction: 2¢/word, Poetry: $20. Art: $110/cover, $50/back cover, & $20 for website art
Theme: Stories & poetry containing elements of scifi/anarchism/transhumanism/dystopia

OTHERSIDE 2026: A New Magazine of Queer SFF! A new queer-led literary magazine devoted to speculative fiction, poetry, and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors and artists.

@othersidespec.bsky.social Kickstarter is live! Go get you yours and back some #queer #art ✨

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...

Split/Lip Press welcomes new nonfiction/hybrid readers! Silk Jazmyne and Jer Xiong

We're so excited to welcome two new readers to the 2025 SLP Nonfiction reading team! Joining our returning NF readers Cavar, August, Tucker, E. Ce, Keene, and Maxwell ( and our fantastic NF editor @athenadixon.bsky.social ), please say hello to @silkjazmyne.bsky.social and @jerxiong.bsky.social !

published today by @versobooks.bsky.social !

www.versobooks.com/products/2862-amateurs

(discount on @blackwells.bsky.social just saying... blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...)

One unanticipated side effect of the tariffs? I applied to be part of a lit fest in Ireland but heard today that the cost of tariffs have caused one of their main sponsors to pull out, so they've had to scale programming way back. Tariffs are killing the arts as well as commerce.

🗓️ Tomorrow, 9/23, 12 PM ET!
Join us for our writing workshop w/ Ben Weakley in partnership w Cohen Veterans! In this creative writing workshop, we use the written & spoken word to find healing & self-discovery together in a welcoming, safe community. Register: missionbelonging.org/event/creati...

Calling all horror authors, saw this and had to share. @sgj.bsky.social is choosing the winner. Anyone have an unpublished #horror #novella lying around? Seems like a great opportunity. #horrorwriter #booksky

Johnnie showing off her Live. Laugh. Lurk tee

Bad indians book club book lays on a black table.

If you're reading Bad Indians Book Club and loving it, might I interest you in the Live. Laugh. Lurk tee which is the very same one mentioned in the book you're reading and it is now 20% off along with everything else in my shop.

johnniejae.com/merch/live.+...

A VETERAN POKÉMON GO TRAINER LEAVING BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN, WRITES HAIKU The New Verse News presents politically progressive poetry on current events and topical issues.

War poetry for our times: newversenews.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-ve...

Museum, "And here we have the 90's Scholastic Book Fair."