A Year in Plume It’s been a year now since Jennifer and I started Plume. What a wild ride! From first putting our early ideas together, to entering the business plan competition, to launching a Kickstarter to get the venture off the ground, to choosing featured writers, to packing and shipping our first Plume packages, to hosting local events, to building our online community, and everything in between, we have … Read more
I met Erika when she was living in Albuquerque on sabbatical from her academic job. She quickly found her way into the writing community here for good reasons: She is funny and quirky and smart. Really smart. And talented–as a poet and a novelist. But what I have admired about her most is her tenacity and persistence. Her latest novel, You Who Enter Here about native gang life in Albuquerque … Read more
by Amanda Cartigiano We hear a lot about female representation when it comes to television and music, but rarely does the mainstream media pay any attention to women in literature. Of course, there are many popular works featuring feminist characters and/or narratives, such as Jane Eyre, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and The Color Purple, but I want to highlight some of the challenges that arise when literary giants like Charles Bukowski … Read more
by Viannah E. Duncan Are you a writer who’s been thinking about having your work edited? Confused about the types of editing that are available? Not sure what to look for in a good editor? You’ve come to the right place! Plume has graciously allowed me to write something about editing for you all so that you can go into the editing process feeling confident you’re on the right track. … Read more
Viannah E. Duncan is an editor and writer who wants to help authors and poets bring out their best work. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing with a focus on poetry, creative nonfiction, and small press publishing. Her clients range from individuals just starting their writing journeys to independent publishing houses to corporations and government entities. She believes in lifelong learning and is constantly striving to … Read more
What’s That? A few months ago we shared some tips on how to find an agent to query once you’ve written a book and are ready to seek representation. Now we’re going to delve into that next crucial step in the process: drafting a query letter. But what exactly is a query letter? Here’s a pithy definition from nybookeditors.com: “A query letter is a one-page letter sent to literary agents … Read more
We are super excited to announce that Amanda Cartigiano will be a regular contributor here at Plume. Amanda is a writer and poet from New York, currently residing in New Mexico. She received her Bachelor’s in English from the University of New Mexico, and has just been accepted into the MA program in Rhetoric and Writing. When she’s not writing, she’s selling books at Barnes and Noble, and persuading you … Read more
Guest post by Nathalie Bléser, part five in a series of 5 In the Aztec palace, I, Cortés’s lengua, became the bridge between him and Moctezuma. Our Emperor wanted to learn more about the strangers, and he relied on me for that matter. At first I believed in dialogue and I hoped to play a part in the peaceful encounter of two worlds, but soon I learned that what the strangers … Read more
Hello, friends! It’s time for our bi-monthly feature on places to submit. Sometimes in summer it feels like nothing is open, especially since so many literary journals are connected with schools and follow academic calendars. But don’t fret; Plume’s got you covered! Here’s a round-up of some great places that are open and waiting for your words. Guernica “…focused on the intersection of arts and politics…A home for incisive ideas … Read more
A few years ago I was at the AWP conference in L.A. when I met Brenna Gomez through a mutual friend from grad school. Brenna and I had gone through the same program, but at different times. She gave off a warm, writerly energy, and I knew she was going to be someone I would hear about again. Fast forward a couple years, and I went to a local reading … Read more
Guest post by Nathalie Bléser, part two in a series of 5 From the Realm of the Dead, Malina’s Letter: “Dear Plume writers, dear Plume readers, do you know about my Plume dancers? There is a dance in Mexico called la Danza de la Pluma It moves me to tears, and it tears my heart out every time I see the two little girls who cross each other between male adult … Read more
I’ve been trying lately to pair what I’m reading with what I’m writing. Since I’m revising a novel that is partially narrated through journal entries, I went off in search of books with a similar structure. I started re-reading A Tale for the Time Being, a book I really enjoyed the first time. One of the two narrators is telling her story through a journal, so in some ways it’s … Read more