Writers need to be readers. The accomplished scribes as well as bestselling authors will shout this from the rooftops: If you want to write, you need to read. And not just read anything, but mostly read books. If there’s one piece of advice from accomplished writers I have seen time and again from the many interviews that I have done, it’s this: READ!
So, yes, writers need to read books. It’s not about if they want to read books or if they have the time to read books. They NEED to read books. It’s so important.
But why does it even matter in the first place?
Those who don’t enjoy reading books may not understand the benefits which reading books offers to writers. So I think it would be wise to point a few of these benefits out.
Here are some reasons why reading books can be helpful to writers:
Reading books helps writers get a better grasp of writing
While it’s true that everyone has their own style of writing and their own voice, reading books will help every kind of writer out there get a better grasp of structured writing. Unless you are reading books written by AI or books which were not edited, the books you read will help you to understand how good writing is done.
Reading books helps writers to see how certain things are written
For the writers out there struggling to figure out how to write a fight scene, you might pick up some tips on how to get it done by reading books that include fight scenes. If it’s the ability to write good description, then reading novels and novellas can help you out. Books are one of our greatest learning tools, and this is especially true of books in your genre as well as competitive titles that can show you what’s already been covered.
Reading books helps writers to understand what is out there
I clearly recall one episode of the TV show Frasier in which the character, Roz, nearly gets a book published that is the same story as the classic novel Heidi. Apparently, Roz didn’t know that such a story already existed! While it’s true many writers of today can pen fan fiction, fairytale retellings and old stories in new genres, reading books in the genre you write in will help you, the writer, to understand what has already been done – as well as done to death.
Writers want to write well, and they want to write something that stands out. Reading books will help make this happen. Reading books will offer instruction, inspiration, and motivation to get their own writing done. Not only this, but reading fiction can help boost a writer’s creativity, and give them ideas on how to get out of any trouble spots they are dealing with in their own writing.
Now available for pre-order!
What was once The Dream Forest has turned into a new series for children! And this is the very first book in the series!
Little Raccoon Finds the Dream Forest is about a former street raccoon named Rigby who escapes to a magical forest hidden from humans. But even in this forest where he is safe, his old ways of survival get him into trouble. Can he learn to live the way of the Dream Forest?
Written for kids age 3 and up, this story teaches lessons of sharing, kindness, and trust. Releasing on August 8 as a print and ebook, it can be pre-ordered at this link.
Cover design by Abigail Griplack (Silvermilk)
Interior Illustrations by Centauri Wilson
(P.S. For those of you who are wondering why my last name on that cover is different, go here to get the details.)
I recently reviewed the medical memoir “7 Days to Death?” by Lynne Armstrong-Jones at Reader Views
The July 2026 issue of the SPARREW Newsletter is now online! You can read the full issue here.
In this issue, Carolyn Howard-Johnson returns with her latest installment for her Tricky Edits column.
What should you do when words disappear? Read her column here to find out!
Twisted Dreams Press is now accepting submissions for a new anthology series! It is seven books with ten stories in each book.
The first anthology will be published in June. The others will follow in the subsequent months. Submissions of stories for all anthologies opens the beginning of April.
Open until each anthology has ten stories. We will announce when an anthology is no longer accepting submissions.
Series Name: A Week of Terrors!
Here are the themes:
Monster Monday: Creature Horror Stories
Terrifying Tuesday: Evil Clowns
Werewolf Wednesday
Thriller Thursday: Zombies
Frightening Friday: Mix of horror subgenres: psychological horror, eco-horror, cyberpunk horror, erotic horror, etc.
Slasher Saturday: Slasher horror
Spooky Sunday: Ghost stories
Payment: One print and digital copy.
Submit your stories today!
Length: 3K-10K words
Reprints welcome! Simultaneous submissions welcome but please let us know if your story is accepted elsewhere.
Email your stories as a Word .doc or .docx file. Google Docs are okay as long as you grant Dawn permission for access.
No PDF submissions, please.
Stories written with AI will NOT be accepted!
When you submit your story, please put the following in the subject line:
Submission: WOT Anthology, (Title), (Day of the week your story is for)
Please include in your email if the story is a reprint as well as your bio.
Please send your stories to Dawn at submissions@twisteddreamspress.com
We look forward to reading your story!
If you missed out on the anthology call for the Friday the 13th Summer Camp Horror anthology, you’re in luck!
This anthology is reopening to submissions!
Learn more about that on the Twisted Dreams Press blog here.
Twisted Dreams Press is thrilled to announce a brand-new call for submissions for THREE anthologies. These anthologies will be published in 2027. Learn more about them here.
Twisted Dreams Press is accepting submissions for three anthologies slated for publication in 2027! Read about them here.
Dreamweaver Press, a division of Twisted Dreams Press, is also accepting submissions for anthologies! Get the details here.
Room Magazine
“Room publishes work by people of all marginalized genders, including cis and trans women, trans men, nonbinary and Two-Spirit people (we publish everyone except cis men).
What does it mean to belong, whether it’s to a place, a time, a community, a person, or something else entirely? Room Magazine invites unpublished writing and visual art, including graphic forms, for issue 50.1 on the theme “Belonging,” edited by natasha gauthier, Gitanjali D. Sarker, Claire Diamant, and Diana Samu-Visser.
Send us your takes on belonging, not belonging, longing to belong, otherness, belonging on the fringe, belonging to the future, the past, the now. We welcome your imaginings, experiences, dreams, and fears of belonging in all their manifestations and intersections: poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction as always, but we’re also eager to read your comics, hybrids, graphic essays, and other forms that resist and defy the boundaries of belonging in the art world.
Underrepresented artists—such as women (cis and trans), trans men, Two-Spirit, non-binary, BIPOC, queer, neurodiverse, disabled, low-income, or having lived experience with sex work, addictions, or mental health challenges—are particularly encouraged to submit and welcomed to self-identify in their cover letter to have their submissions prioritized.
Submissions are open to both Canadian and international writers for periods of approximately 4-6 weeks, depending on when the submissions limits for any given genre are reached. Once the cap has been hit, our submissions close even if it’s before our submission deadline, and will not open again until the following submission period.”
Original work only. Simultaneous submissions welcome. “Room does not publish work created, supplemented, or edited in whole or in part using generative AI or LLM services, e.g. ChatGPT.”
Length:
Poetry: 5 poems max
Fiction and Creative Nonfiction: 3500 words max
Payment:
“We pay issue contributors upon publication. We pay $50 CAD per page (up to a maximum of $200) + 2 copies of the issue in which your work appears + a 1 year print subscription to Room
We pay $250 for cover art + 2 copies of the issue in which your work appears + a 1 year print subscription to Room
We pay reviewers and web contributors a flat rate of $75.”
Deadline: Until full
Sans. PRESS
“From June 25 to August 04*, we are open for short story submissions!
We are looking for stories of any genre that respond to our title and/or cover art.
Doomed by fate or driven by never-ending hope, following destiny or refusing to follow the signs, stories & characters are often shaped by cycles and patterns. Sometimes by being unknowingly framed by them, or by being unable to fully escape the traps laid by fate.
For anthology #12, we want to read stories that deal with time, cycles and patterns, and how characters respond to and are shaped by them. We are looking for broad responses to the theme AGAIN, and what that prompt may mean to different people in different contexts. As always, these patterns may take any shape or form – the generational struggles of magical realism, the self-fulfilling prophecies of fantasy, or the contemporary fight against destructive behaviours – as long as they are a sincere exploration of the theme.
AGAIN will be an anthology that recognises the obstacles against change, and the structures that can maintain repetition despite individual will; of how people are affected by trying to challenge what has always/will always be; and how meaning is found in any kind of narrative, ever-changing or cyclical.
We are looking for stories inspired by our title – AGAIN – and/or the cover artworks below, by artist Robert Ryan. Exclusively for this issue, this call will select stories for both issue #12 (Again) and our following issue, #13. All genres of writing are welcome; more than any specific story or style, we want the emotional response the title and artwork evokes in you.”
Original work only. No multiple submissions. Simultaneous submissions accepted. No AI-generated stories.
Length: 5K words max
Payment: “If a story is selected, the writer will be offered a flat rate of €200, as well as a copy of the issue where the story is featured; if you are based outside our shipping capabilities, you’ll receive a digital copy.”
Deadline: “*The call will be open until August 04 or until we hit our 2,000 submission cap.We are currently at 52.95% (23/07).”
Villainess Press
“We’re looking for short stories for a small anthology of cozy fantasy. We will be selecting between 3 and 5 stories to be featured in a limited run of paperback books.
Cozy fantasy, to us, means gentle and heartwarming stories that still have meaningful stakes. Tea shops and cats are welcome, but it’s also okay to forgo those tropes for an original speculative element.
Villainess is an indie publisher that prints sub-genres of fantasy and focuses on gender representation. Please make sure your submission prominently includes characters that are women or nonbinary.”
Reprints welcome. No multiple submissions. Simultaneous submissions accepted. No AI. Requires one year of exclusivity following publication.
Length: 1500-4500 words
Payment:
“Original fiction: $0.02/word
Reprints: $0.01/word”
Deadline: August 6, 2026
Crimeucopia: Waikiki Beach Refugees
See also here.
Murderous Ink Press
“Crimeucopia is intended to be a series of anthologies series of vaguely themed short fiction, designed to cover a broad spectrum of crime fiction - though we do have a backstop in the form of an irregular Free-for-All edition depending on the amount of submissions received.”
The next reading period is August 4-11 for Waikiki Beach Refugees. Here is the info:
“We’re looking for crime fiction that has a surfing/sailing/fishing/coastal connection - not necessarily set in or around O’ahu/Honolulu
So whether you’re a grommet with a foamie, or a barnacle Kahuna still in love with their wall-hanger
Or a windjammer with a wealth of scuttlebutt and a taste for tramp steamers
We’d like you to pull up a bollard, share a tot, and spin us your dits”
Multiple submissions welcome. No simultaneous submissions. See their note about reprints. No AI-generated stories. “Please Note:- We are not looking for pure Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, or work involving pre-existing characters (ie Fan Fiction).“
Length: 2K-10K words
Payment:
“These are tat present £4/US$4 per 1000 words pro rata, paid on acceptance, and on the understanding that publication will be based on whichever themed issue folder becomes full/completed first.
Reprints - Depending on the word count - up to a Maximum of - £7.00. (Proof of reprint availability required - ie date & publisher)
New Material - 2,000 - 10,000 at present paying £4 per 1,000 pro rata”
Deadline: August 11, 2026
Cult Publishing
“Cult Publishing is looking for art and stories to feature within our Manuscrypt magazine. Applications are currently open for our next issue, with the theme: Aliens & Cryptids.
We are looking for horror stories meant to entice the reader and leave lasting impressions. Submissions can be poetry, short stories, etc., but there must be an element of horror. Art submitted to the magazine can be photography, digital art, and drawings, but we are not limited to these mediums. Each issue will revolve around a certain binding theme. Though it is not mandatory that entries fit this theme, stories and art that connect to the theme will be favoured for submissions.”
Reprints welcome but they are only paying for original work. They require three months of exclusivity of accepted work following publication. Simultaneous submissions accepted. No multiple submissions. No AI-generated work.
Length: 3500 words max
Payment: $50 for original work
Deadline:
For stories: August 14, 2026
For art: September 4, 2026
This week, I promoted my children’s book, Hunter’s Upcycling Adventures.
I realized it has been a while since I have promoted this book, and since I am promoting my children’s books this month, I decided to start with this one.
Here is the book’s blurb:
“One day, 5-year-old Hunter becomes bored playing with his toys. When he helps his mother with her recycling chores, he learns about something called “upcycling,” where old things are made into new things. So begins a world of fun for Hunter as he goes on a safari, sails on a ship in search of treasure and enjoys stargazing all thanks to the upcycled things he makes.”
And here is the excerpt!
Excerpt from
Hunter’s Upcycling Adventures
Copyright © 2013 by Dawn Colclasure
Hunter watched his mother carry a bunch of stuff to the recycle bins. She had something in her arms that looked like it could be recycled, but also used for something else, too, just the way it was. It was a toilet paper tube.
“Wait!” he said. He took the toilet paper tube and looked at it. It was clean and didn’t have any holes on it. “If I had two of these, I bet I could make binoculars!”
“That’s a great idea, Hunter,” his mother said. “And your idea has a name. It’s called ‘upcycling.’ It’s like recycling. You take things the way they are and turn them into something else.”
Hunter smiled at his mother. “Mom, I had fun recycling, but now I want to do some upcycling. I’ll start with these tubes and turn them into binoculars.”
Thanks for reading! See you next weekend.
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