The editorial assistant proof-reads and copy-edits approximately 1 profile per month, which is usually published the fourth Sunday of each month. Copy-editing duties include: copy-editing prose for punctuation and usage errors, verifying that external links work, creating additional links as requested by the editors, and communicating with the editors about the copyediting timeline and process. The Profiles and Reviews editorial assistants also occasionally shuffle duties when necessary. Some knowledge of HTML is useful. Editorial assistants are welcome to contribute to editorial conversations about profiles and reviews.
Interested? Please e-mail an application letter and resume by February 1st to LMinfo at literarymama dot com
Come to a preview screening/potluck dinner/discussion/fundraiser for independent mom filmmaker Deirdre Fishel, who is raising funds to complete her documentary, Sperm Donor X. Donations gratefully accepted, but not required; come for the movie, stay for the discussion!
Here is Deirdre's story:
I began filming Sperm Donor X at 40, when I found myself at a precipice. I wanted to at least try to have a biological child yet doing it alone with donor sperm felt bizarre and terrifying.I had no idea how my story would end and I was interested in finding other diverse women facing the same turning point. I filmed myself and three other women for two years, then stopped because I wasn't sure I wanted to put out such a personal film. But I started again because not a day goes by that I don't look at my kids and feel grateful that I made this choice. It's almost painful to think what I would have missed if I hadn't.
Every month I meet smart, talented, beautiful women in their thirties and early forties who want children and yet are so afraid of doing it alone. Some see it as a personal failure. But the truth is we're well into a huge cultural shift, with the numbers of singles skyrocketing and more and more people getting into their primary relationships later in life.
My fervent wish with this documentary is to normalize a process that felt bizarre and foreign to me and to show that there are so many ways to be a family. Women having kids alone with donor sperm is just one of them and it's okay.
Sperm Donor X is a fully edited 54 minute film. But without the finishing funds to do a sound mix, color correct, and license the archival footage it won't get out into the world. Please help us by giving what you can. Many thanks.
You can see a trailer of the film here.
Saturday February 6, 6:30 - 9:30 PM, Oakland, CA
Contact Literary Mama's CNF editor, Susan Ito, for address; write to LMnonfiction (at) literarymama (dot) com and please put "Sperm Donor X" in the subject line.
The Literary Reflections Department needs an editorial assistant to compile our two monthly reading lists: the Essential Reading List features our favorite books in a particular category (travel, writing, read aloud, etc); the Now Reading List features titles that Literary Mamas are currently reading.
The editorial assistant gets to correspond frequently with all the LM editors and columnists, and works closely with the senior editors. While her primary responsibility is producing the two reading lists, the editorial assistant may also participate in editorial discussions about submissions to Literary Reflections.
Responsibilities:
collect contributions to each list from the Literary Mama editors and columnists
compile and edit each list, and gather images of each book
submit each list for senior editor approval one week prior to publication
post each list in our publication software (Moveable Type), using HTML for links and images
create a PDF of each list
solicit ideas for Essential Reading lists from LM board, and create a master list for the following year
Interested? Please e-mail an application letter and resume by February 1st to lminfo at literarymama dot com
Sunday, January 31st
1-4PM
Join Literary Mama's "Birthing the Mother Writer" columnist, Cassie Premo Steele, an award-winning writer and creativity coach, for a lovely afternoon of journaling, meditation, walks in the woods, and homemade baked goods and tea by the fire at a private home on 10 beautiful acres in central South Carolina. Cost is only $30, but space is limited, so reserve yours by registering via PayPal or credit card at www.cassiepremosteele.blogspot.com
Directions will be sent via email after payment is received.
For more info, visit www.cassiepremosteele.com
News from Great Green Room Columnist Stephanie Hunt:
I'm hoping the new year finds you well. I wanted to let you know of a new blog venture I'm co-creating with my writer/artist friend Susan Hull Walker -- it's a contemplative blog (we're trying to prove that's not an oxymoron!), reflecting on the shared journey we find ourselves on, both with parents diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig' s disease). That may sound like a big downer, but it's not. Our intention is to explore the light and grace within loss. The blog sidebar tells more about that.
We're new to blogosphere, and welcome your suggestions, your links if you're a blogger, and your occasional quick glance: www.alifestill.com
Show your love for Literary Mama by swigging from a Literary Mama Sigg, donning an LM t-shirt or trucker hat, using LM notecards for your correspondence, and toting everything from sippy cups to manuscripts in your LM tote. We're open for business over at Cafe Press; we'll send all proceeds from the sale of LM gear to Partners In Health for their relief efforts in Haiti.
Join award-winning writer and teacher, Kate Hopper, for a weekend retreat for mother-writers. We'll write, share our writing, discuss challenges with craft, and have time to connect with other mother writers in the luxury and quiet of Faith's Lodge. Group meetings and individual conferences with Kate will help support you as you delve more deeply into your writing and learn to take risks on the page. Come immerse yourself in the writing life with other mothers who write.
When: 4 p.m. on Friday, February 26 - 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 28
Where: Faith's Lodge, Wisconsin
Faith's Lodge is located on 80 picturesque acres in Northwestern Wisconsin near the town of Webster, less than a two-hour drive from the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, less than one hour from Duluth/Superior and about four hours from Madison. The mission of Faith's Lodge is to provide a place where parents and families facing the serious illness or loss of a child can retreat to reflect on the past, renew strength for the present, and build hope for the future.
You need not have experienced the loss of a child to attend the retreat. This retreat is for all mother writers. But proceeds from the Mother Words Writing Retreat will benefit the children and families served by Faith's Lodge.
Cost: $500 - includes lodging, food and beverages, and writing instruction
The Lodge has eight guest suites. Each suite features a private bath, fireplace, balcony/patio, flat screen TV, DVD player, small fridge, and coffee maker. Participants will be sharing rooms, but everyone will have their own bed.
To register: Contact Evelyn Nyberg at enyberg@faithslodge.org or 715-866-8200.
Please contact Kate at katehopper[at]msn.com with questions about the Mother Words Retreat.
To learn more about Faith's Lodge, visit www.faithslodge.org.
Editor-in-chief Caroline Grant will be on ABC-7's View from the Bay, Wednesday January 6th, sharing our editors' and columnists' picks for favorite children's books. Check out the list and take it to your favorite local bookstore or library so that you can share these books with the kids you love.
Check out the new Fine Line Editorial Consultancy and its newsletter about writers and writing:
"The Fine Line is an Edinburgh-based Editorial Consultancy, committed to helping new, burgeoning, and established writers realise their literary potential. Our aim is to inspire and assist. We provide advice to get you started, lessons to download, insights into the methods of working writers, and an editorial service designed for your individual needs."