Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Why I Love the Gettysburg Review & A Contest for a Free Subscription!

I’m honored to announce that I’ve been invited to serve as an Advisory & Contributing Editor for The Gettysburg Review, which is one of my favorite literary journals—to read, and to see my work published in. As you probably know, it’s impossible to subscribe to every single excellent journal out there, so I tend to pick 3-4 to read for a year or so and then rotate on to a new batch (as heart-breaking as it is to say goodbye to a beloved journal). But The Gettysburg Review is so very, very beloved that I’ve kept my subscription going for years and years.

Five of my stories have appeared in its pages, most recently “The Circle,” which is part of my forthcoming collection, THIS ANGEL ON MY CHEST, and they’ve honored me with a Pushcart Prize nomination in the past.

Beyond that loyalty toward its writers, here are 11 other (randomly numbered) reasons I love The Gettysburg Review:

1.     The journal features a portfolio of full-color artwork.
2.     Writers are paid with $.
3.     The font and layout are elegant and uncluttered.
4.     The paper feels lush and the ink doesn’t smudge.
5.     The editing is rigorous and thoughtful and smart.
6.     The work, the work, the work! It is one of the few journals where I enjoy reading and admire equally each genre: fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.
7.     They support AWP by buying a booth at the bookfair and taking the time to carefully answer every single question, even the possibly annoying ones: “How can I get my work published in your journal?”; “Why did you reject me?”; “What are you looking for?”
8.     The journal works with and trains interns in the art of editing, helping ensure thoughtful editors in the next generation.
9.     They often offer discounted subscriptions (not that full-price isn’t worth the bucks!).
10.  They will (and have) published looooooooong stories (including one of my loooooong stories).
11.  They listed my name on the cover once. (Okay, that’s a totally self-absorbed reason to love a journal, but it was dang exciting!)

So:
Let me share my love with one blog reader in a contest for a subscription.  Simply email me your mailing address (U.S. only…sorry, but I’m not made of money and can’t afford the overseas mail rate!) by FRIDAY, July 31, and I will select one person at random to get a free, one-year print subscription to the Gettysburg Review. And yes, it's okay to enter if you know me!

Rules:
1.     Write “Gettysburg Review” in the subject header. If you don’t, I promise your email won’t be selected because it won’t find its way into the gmail search.
2.     Send this email to: lesliepietrzyk AT gmail DOT com (only, you know, with the proper formatting).
3.     Include your mailing address (which I will not share with anyone else). If your mailing address isn’t included, I’m not going to track you down. Remember, US addresses only.
4.     Send all this before FRIDAY, July 31, at 5 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
5.     The winner will be selected at random and will be notified privately and announced the following week on this blog.
6.     If there are other rules I’m forgetting to imagine needing, I’m the one in charge here, so I get to make up more rules on the spot! J

Feel free to pass this blog post along to your friends…come on—don’t be selfish!

More information about the journal, including digital and print subscriptions: http://www.gettysburgreview.com/
Submission information (but not until September 1!): http://www.gettysburgreview.com/submissions/