FAQ

Hi folks,

I revised the FAQs below based on recent questions. If you have other questions, please email me.

Thanks,
Jen Burke

Are there examples of the type of writing you are seeking posted anywhere online?

I do not have any examples, but here are a few topic ideas:

  • defining and naming your sexual orientation, sex, and gender, and any intersection thereof
  • the power and complications in presenting femme as a gender, or in thinking of femme as not a gender
  • femmes with disabilities
  • weight, body image, food, and femme identity
  • friendships, cooperation, conflict, and competition among femmes and the development of femme identity
  • breaking the traditional meaning of feminine, or redefining what traditional actually is
  • alternative meanings of “feminine” and “masculine” and other words indicating sex and/or gender
  • whether or how pairing with male-identified partners can clash with the desire for visibility
  • femmes who date femmes
  • finding community or not finding community
  • ethnicity and femme identity
  • femme identity, employment, career choices, and economics
  • ways in which communities can be supportive or inhibiting
  • the impact of sexism, homophobia, biphobia, and heterosexism
  • the way that class, race, lookisms, and ableism affect your definition of femme and how others have perceived you
  • any other topics related to being femme

You may submit writing on ANYTHING related to femme identity. What I am seeking, above all else, is writing that has a unique voice and a compelling viewpoint. I want original, fresh material, maybe something on the edge, maybe not.

What type of characters are right for this book?

There will not be any characters in Visible: A Femmethology. This is a nonfiction book of personal writing on identity. In fact, you may wish to take steps to conceal the identity of persons mentioned in your writing to protect their privacy, if required.

May I submit more than one essay?

Submit as many as you like. Each must be attached to a separate essay. Please follow other submission guidelines indicated in the CFS.

What if part of my essay has poetry included?

Prose-poetry could make the cut, if there’s more prose than poetry. If you’re talking about some twists in form/narrative/voice/etc., I think that’s great. That’s what I want.

Former editor Maria Angeline gave me 600 pages of submissions, and I’m slowly making my way through those as well as reading new ones. There is a vast variety of form in these personal, nonfiction essays, which is the focus for this collection. I’m sure my final picks will reflect that diversity. Straightforward, conventional paragraphing dominates, but some folks have given that prose a twist in different ways.

Did you get my submission?

After you submit, you should receive a confirmation email from me. If you did not receive that email, please check in with me.

When is the submissions deadline?

June 1, 2008.

When will you make your final cuts?

Final cuts will be announced around October 1, 2008.

Can I send a pdf of my work?

Please follow the guidelines in the CFS.

My submission is an excerpt from my novel. Is that okay?

That depends on the status of your novel. If a publisher has already established rights to the material, then we probably have a problem. Permission fees and other issues with your work may make it ineligible for publication in Femmethology.

If there is no encumbrance on your novel, please know that your excerpt must stand as a complete coherent piece apart from the whole.

If my work is included, what are my rights in the work and to profits?

Homofactus Press will clarify contractual issues shortly.

Do you receive profits from this work as an editor?

Yes.

May I post the CFS elsewhere?

Please do. I highly encourage it. The revised version is now available here and includes the proper email address to me. Please blog it; print a copy for your book groups; post it at the library or elsewhere; and share it at your school. Every bit helps.

I identify as male and femme. May I submit?

Absolutely.

I identify as butch but have often written about femme identity. May I submit?

Absolutely.

I’m a bisexual/lesbian/gay person. Does that mean I’m “queer” for the purposes of this book?

Does it? This collection interrogates and reshapes what “queer” and “femme” signify.

Will this be an e-book?

It will go to print. A pdf will also be available.

I was wondering if you were able to read the pieces I sent and what your thoughts were on them?

For each of my book projects, I either have posted or will post a date when final cuts will be announced. Then I’ll work with writers who will be included.

Don’t you want to save your soul from burning in damnation for your queerness?

C’mere. Smell that? Eau de Brimstone. You’re late.