Watch out for scams targeting short story writers/poets!
Much has been written about scams targeting writers, and while there have been many over the years—from When Words Count to the National Library of Poetry to PublishAmerica—a whole new crop has sprung up and become more prominent in the past year. These are invitations to have your book featured in book clubs, reviewed or endorsed by famous authors, or appear at literary festivals. I’m sure there are more iterations, but that’s the idea. This article on Writer Beware goes into more detail: https://writerbeware.blog/2025/11/14/if-a-famous-author-calls-hang-up-anatomy-of-an-impersonation-scam/
I had heard of many of my peers receiving scammy emails, texts, and phone calls, but it only happened to me just recently (two on the same day)–and now they’re targeting not just people who have books for sale, but short story writers and poets who are featured in anthologies. If anyone receives these, they are scams. Don’t respond:
Absolute Write Water Cooler is a great place to check for what’s scammy and what’s not. Here’s the link to their Bewares & Background Checks forum space: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php?forums/bewares-recommendations-background-check.22/
Our submissions window is now closed!
Our submissions window is now closed. Thank you to all who submitted! That so many writers would love to be in our pages is an honor, and we appreciate every single submission, even if we don’t publish it.
If you haven’t received a response yet, we are working on it—we go as fast as we can so that your work isn’t sitting in our inbox eating up time it could be under consideration at another market that may not accept simsubs. We aim to have all responses sent out no later than February 28.
We’ve got some stellar selections for this year, so if you’re also a reader, you have much to look forward to!
In January of 2027, we plan to be open for fiction and poetry.
If you have any questions or concerns and need to contact us, you can either reach out to us through the form on our Contact page or email us at 34orchardjournal@gmail.com.
We wish you a productive, healthy, exciting 2026!
In gratitude,
Kristi and Anne
Ring in the New Year! Our submissions window is now open!
Submissions for SHORT FICTION are now open! The window will close at 11:59 pm your local time on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
We are considering fiction pieces for our Spring and Autumn 2026 issues from 1000 to 6000 words. Please note, we are not accepting poetry submissions this time around. We will welcome poetry again in January of 2027.
We do our best to respond as quickly as we can, and aim to have all responses sent out no later than February 28.
Our guidelines are here: https://34orchard.com/guidelines/
If you have any questions or concerns and need to contact us, you can either reach out to us through the form on our Contact page or email us at 34orchardjournal@gmail.com.
“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
We open for submissions January 1, 2026!
We hope you’re enjoying these waning days of 2025 and making plans for a wordful 2026!
Our submissions window for our 2026 issues is about to open. Submissions open at 12:00 am your local time on Thursday, January 1, 2026, and will close at 11:59 pm your local time on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
We are considering only fiction pieces from 1000 to 6000 words. Please note, we are not accepting poetry submissions this time around. We will welcome poetry again in January of 2027.
Our guidelines are here: https://34orchard.com/guidelines/
If you have any questions or concerns and need to contact us, you can either reach out to us through the form on our Contact page or email us at 34orchardjournal@gmail.com.
What to watch this weekend: THE LADY OF THE LAKE (Documentary, 2023)
I love documentaries about many things—topping the list lately, it’s been urban legends and the paranormal. Recently, I found the The Lady of the Lake, a 2023 documentary hosted by paranormal investigator and historian Amanda D. Paulson, about an infamous murder and ensuing supernatural activity at Lake Crescent in Washington State.
This exceeded expectations. Aside from detailing the inciting incident and who the players were through extensive research, law enforcement sheds light on how the case was solved—complete with vintage footage and photos—locals are interviewed about their experiences and lore, and paranormal investigators share their results.
The solid production values create an atmosphere that makes this genuinely creepy and unsettling. Yet what’s most compelling is its discussion about the nature of haunted places and its philosophical waxing about the afterlife, and what it offers on liminal space, in particular—both in concrete and abstract—makes it a nice fit for 34O readers.
If you love ghost stories, urban legends, and true crime and enjoy deep thoughts on phenomena called hauntings—and if you’re a fan of the atmosphere and mood of Lake Mungo—this is for you.
You can watch the trailer (and read Bloody Disgusting’s full review) here: https://youtu.be/W7aK3q83IPs?si=68J1ThKT_ROZ4Dtn
As of this post’s publication, it’s available for free on Tubi and for rent on Amazon Prime.
Writers: Tighten your work—delete these phrases!
Hello all,
Some great advice from former literary agent Nathan Bransford today on how to tighten up your writing—by just deleting a few phrases! Before submitting your piece to any market, check through it and see what of these can be cut—a cleaner, tighter piece always gives you an edge in the slush pile.
Thanks to 34 Orchard contributor Trisha J. Wooldridge for the link! Enjoy!
HP Lovecraft Film Festival VIRTUAL starts this Friday 12/5!
We love our cosmic horror—it asks so many questions and makes us think. We also love short films. So the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, going strong since 1995, is our jam.
Hosts Gwen and Brian Callahan go above and beyond—the quality of this festival, from curation and content to pledge campaign rewards and collateral material—is top notch.
Although the in-person festival happened in September, the streaming edition arrives December 5-9, 2025, and you’ll be able to enjoy over sixty short films, several full-length features, author readings, and panels right from your living room.
This year’s thirtieth anniversary theme is Cthulu on the High Seas, so in addition, some contributors to the Lovecraftian Microfiction/Challenge from Beyond books, which always accompany the festival, were instead asked to write an X-files-esque story surrounding The Emma, a two-masted schooner that plays into strange events in Lovecraft’s story “The Call of Cthulu.” There are stories by favorites like Cody Goodfellow and John Shirley (34O editor Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s story “Compaction” is included too). The books will be on sale after the festival on Arkhaam Bazaar’s website.
If short films and cosmic/existentialist horror rocks your world, this festival is for you! You can purchase tickets for the December 5-9, 2025 streaming event here: https://hplfilmfestival.eventive.org/passes/buy.
The 34 ORCHARD Holiday Playlist
Let’s face it: the holidays—no matter which one of a few is celebrated in December—can be not so great sometimes. There are people we miss, traditions we wish had never ended, tensions in relationships that’ll either explode over the punch bowl or get stuffed away in a stocking for yet another year, and hauntings by past not-so-merrys… and that’s just for starters.
But it’s these darker undercurrents that make the happier times more joyful. As sad as the holidays can be, if we didn’t have those downers, we wouldn’t have the intense moments of magic. Those moments when the world simply stops and we’re given the gift of perfect happiness, even if fleeting.
Writers always talk about their playlists—music they work to. I have them for 34 Orchard, too, and I even have some just for the holidays. Here’s mine. It’s nostalgia and pain, starry dark and eclipse sharp. I put them in an order that tells a story, too—well, sort of, anyway. I don’t really expect anyone to get it because nobody’s in my head, but I hope you enjoy it. The full Youtube playlist link is below, and for your convenience, I included the link to each individual song as well.
Thank you for supporting 34 Orchard—for submitting, for donating, for opening up these blog posts and reading them, for sharing our magazine. And above all… for reading. The goal with every issue is for every reader to find a piece of writing that hits home, that speaks, that says, ‘hey, I’m not alone,’ that will never be forgotten.
If you’d like to suggest some titles of your own? Leave a comment! I have to pre-approve the comments, so if you don’t see it, don’t think I didn’t receive it and I’ll approve them as quickly as I can. Or, you can drop us a note through the Contact Page.
Wishing you all a gleefully melancholy holiday season,
Kristi
1 “Taxi (Ave Maria)” – Perri Alleyne/arr. John Murphy (from the motion picture 28 Days Later)
2 “Every Day is Christmas” – Colby Caillat
3 “Save Some Christmas” – Rob Thomas
4 “Do You Hear What I Hear?” – Pink Martini
5 “Last Christmas/Leave Before You Love Me Mash-Up” – Anthem Lights
6 “Long Ago” – Adam Sandler, Alison Krauss and the Eight Crazy Nights motion picture cast
7 “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” – Rascal Flatts
8 Magnificat (2010): 6. Suscepit Israel – Kim André Arnesen
9 “In the Bleak Midwinter” – Gustav Holst (Instrumental)
10 “Blue Christmas” – from the Rankin Bass special Year Without a Santa Claus
11 “In the Bleak Midwinter” – the cast of BBC’s Ghosts (Ghosts UK), Season 2, Episode 7
12 “Blue Christmas” – Peter Cetera
13 “Save the Snowman” – Dan + Shay
14 “Secret Garden” – Theodore Shapiro (from the motion picture Last Christmas)
15 “Somewhere in My Memory” – John Williams, from the motion picture Home Alone
16 “Eventually” – Lawrence (from the motion picture Noelle)
17 “Just Like That” – A Christmas Story Live! – Maya Rudolph
18 “A Long December” – Counting Crows
19 “Merry Christmas, Alabama (Never Far From Home)” – Jimmy Buffet
20 “Christmas Gifts/The Best Gift” – Sandy Bainum and Euan Morton
21 “A Christmas Festival” – Leroy Anderson
22 “Last Christmas” – Emilia Clarke (from the motion picture Last Christmas)
23 “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” – Nancy Wilson
24 “Auld Lang Syne” – Lea Michele (from the motion picture New Year’s Eve)
25 “Auld Lang Syne” – Zooey Deschanel; score by John Debney (from the motion picture Elf)
34 Orchard 