Short Fiction Manuscript Consultations with Nate Brown
This summer and fall, writer and longtime literary editor Nate Brown will open his books for five editorial consultations for writers looking to sharpen their stories, get un-stuck, and prepare their work for submission to literary journals.
One hundred percent of the proceeds raised will go to Good Contrivance Farm, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving GCF’s historic Maryland farm property while serving the local literary community through low-cost residencies, affordable writing workshops, and free craft talks by some of today’s most celebrated authors.
Details:
Interested writers will make a charitable contribution of $200 to Good Contrivance Farm, and in exchange, they’ll receive:
— An editorial markup/line edit of their short story using both line-level proofing and notes.
— An editorial letter of between 750 and 1,000 words commenting on the work and providing comparable titles for review as well as suggestions of literary journals where the author might consider submitting their finished story.
— A 30-minute Zoom consultation with Nate where you can discuss the nitty gritty of the edits, the details of the editorial letter, and anything else writing- and publishing-related that you’d like to discuss.
How to Participate – Registration, Payment & Scheduling:
Step 1 – Donate: Make your $200 charitable contribution to Good Contrivance Farm here: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9LAPGLC5UJ4ZQ
Step 2 – Proof of contribution: Please download or screenshot your charitable donation receipt.
Step 3 – Register using Google Forms: Once you’ve made your charitable donation to Good Contrivance Farm, please fill out this Google form where you can upload your information, your donation receipt, and your manuscript! Register here: https://forms.gle/KQWA8siB5nxyJmG39
About Nate:
Nate Brown is a Baltimore-based writer and editor with more than 20 years of professional editorial experience. Brown started his publishing career in 2004 as an editorial assistant at Random House and served for a decade as the managing editor of the award-winning, Austin-based literary magazine American Short Fiction, where he is currently the magazine’s editor-at-large. He is also an advisory editor at the Hopkins Review, the premiere arts and culture magazine published by the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.
His stories, essays, profiles, and reviews have appeared in One Story, The Iowa Review, Mississippi Review, Five Chapters, Carolina Quarterly, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Publishers Weekly, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. He has received numerous fellowships and awards for his short fiction, including residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, the Ucross Foundation, Millay Arts, and support from the Maryland State Arts Council.
A university educator of 20 years, he is currently a senior lecturer in the University Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University, where he coordinates JHU’s Common Question and is the associate director of JHU’s Writing Center.
He is also a board member at Good Contrivance Farm, and 100% of proceeds raised via this manuscript consultation fundraiser will go to Good Contrivance Farm to support its mission of preserving its historic farm property for future generations while offering affordable residency space, workshops, and free craft talks to the public.
Scheduling your Zoom Consultation:
Nate will email you to schedule your Zoom consultation: After you’ve registered, Nate will shoot an email to your preferred email address so that you can arrange a time for a Zoom consultation. He will work with you to determine a mutually agreeable time, and once it’s set, he’ll provide a Zoom link and calendar invitation for your consultation.
Submission Requirements:
All work submitted for editorial review should adhere to the following requirements:
— Submitted manuscripts should be written in a standard 11- or 12-point font with standard page margins. If this is an experimental work that deviates from standard formatting, please indicate that on the registration form.
— Please include your name, the story’s title, and your preferred email address on the first page of the manuscript so that Nate can reach out to introduce himself and schedule your 30-minute Zoom consultation.
— Please number your pages
— Please refrain from using AI to compose your work. Nate pledges to do the same when reviewing your manuscript and composing your editorial letter. This is a 100% human-to-human endeavor.
—Stories should be no more than 8,000 words in length.
— Multiple short pieces are acceptable so long as the total word count remains under 8,000 words.
Please Note:
— Space is limited to five consultations only, and the registration form will automatically close when the slots are taken.
— This is a charitable fundraiser. Good Contrivance Farm is a federally registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and all proceeds will go to the farm, not to the editor. Your donation may be tax-deductible, but we’re writers, not tax professionals and we advise you to check with your tax preparer regarding any potential deductions for which you may be eligible.
— It will take up to three weeks to complete the editorial review, markup, and editorial letter. Thanks in advance for your patience.
— Nate will work with you individually to schedule a 30-minute Zoom consultation to discuss your work. After registering, please keep an eye out for an email from him, and please be sure to check your SPAM folders.
— Nate will not use any large language models or any form of artificial intelligence during this editorial process. He’s a firm believer in keeping this a purely human-to-human interaction.