The Disappointed Housewife-SUBMISSIONS ALWAYS OPEN

Fiction, poetry, essays & more, with an idiosyncratic flair. Visit The Disappointed Housewife. thedisappointedhousewife.com #Writers, see our Submission Guidelines here: thedisappointedhousewife.com/submission-gui…

@The_Fredwords I feel like I'm part of a sadistic social experiment.

@offbeatlit Whoa. I had one after 10-12 months and I was insulted. But three years?!

Just got a rejection on a 3-year-old submission. Srsly? Just let it go, bro. I certainly gave up on it a couple years back.

Now that I look a little closer, ALL my novels are available for $2.99 #Kindle edition. Skim through the samples. There's something for everybody. 😃 amazon.com/stores/Kevin-B… #readingcommunity #fiction #novels #literaryfiction

If we tell you to submit no more than three poems, why would you send us five? 🤔

Really excited to have my latest poem at The Disappointed Housewife! Many thanks to Kevin for his fine editing/suggestions and for letting me geek out with the form on this one. Custom-made mimeograph poems, who knew? I pulled out enough of my hair for it though and worth it.

@offbeatlit @pimpledrose Agree; not only is the chosen format brilliant, the bruising understatement & what's not said, as well as the diction, is top-notch. I've saved this poem as both a model and inspiration that perhaps, someday, I can write something as breathtaking.

We have an extraordinary piece today, #poetry in the form of a poignant school assignment by @pimpledrose ~ Chrissy Stegman. #mustread thedisappointedhousewife.com/2026/07/08/how…

@sophiakb_writes @ca5eyj0 I need to get in touch with this Joe guy. 😆

@ca5eyj0 @offbeatlit I love those types of bio!

I think we all agree that AI shouldn't be used in creative writing. What's the point? But what do you think about using AI to polish cover letters, bios, blurbs, & such? 🤔 You know publishers are going to be using it for things like that. Probably already are ...

@brecht_dp Glad you have a reliable method. Sometimes it feels like I approach each book in a different way. 😜

@offbeatlit I've outlined the whole thing - makes it much easier to write. But occasionally there is a character that needs further development, or she/he does something that needs a clearer motivation. I also plan each chapter in more detail once I get to it.

I'm at around 27k in my novel and I encountered the first real challenge with one of the main characters' motivations. I think I cracked it though, so onwards to 30k now!

Trump destroyed my America. kevinbrennanbooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/04/the…

@1WomanWordsmith This is for book-length submissions, which might alter the dynamics a little. Still, it's high in comparison to most other presses.

@offbeatlit It would be steep for me, but if I supported their mission, I'd try to donate at some point in the future when I did have the means. If they gave additional feedback for a short story length piece, that would be a nice benefit.

I think $30 is a tad steep for a submission fee to a small press. What do you think?

@PaddlerPress No free books, apparently. 😡

@offbeatlit Um, yeah. I don't a couple of bucks to help out, but $30? Does it come with a free copy or two of the print version?

@DavidBulley @mooninabucket The biz, mainly thanks to Submittable, has normalized submission fees. Problem for writers is, many if not most of the best target markets charge them. Good to hear you're able to avoid the racket!

@offbeatlit @mooninabucket I think .50 cents is too much. If I see a submission fee I not only will never submit, I'll also never subscribe or even buy, or read, or pick it up out of the road or from a little free library house. They are dead to me.

@mukundgnanades1 Wow. $70 -- a writer has to be pretty confident to fork that over!

@offbeatlit I agree in general though maybe okay with it for a full-length novel (there’s one out there that’s $70 for a novel.)

@kudera Sad but true.

@offbeatlit I think cost of living is rising, and people are trying to make ends meet. It's awful, of course, but it remains a "let the [submitter] beware" literary economy.

@NunneleyMike I've seen small presses charge $10 to $15, and some of them send you one of their books in return. That seems legit.

@offbeatlit I have a simple rule: never pay for publishing or reviews. Real publishers and reviewers will not ask for money is what I have heard.

@cjsarett @mooninabucket Seems to be for full ms. Still. Mucho dinero.

@offbeatlit @mooninabucket For a manuscript, acceptable. For a submission packet….nope.

@The_Fredwords Too right. I know small presses aren't killing it in sales, but it feels a bit predatory.

@offbeatlit Way too high. There's no amount of "we reply in 72 hours" or "every piece is given detailed feedback" worth that price. For those of us who submit 1-2 times a month, that's a missed car payment by the end of the year.