It is with a sad heart that we say goodbye to Erin, she is truly an amazing editor (as well as a myriad of other artistic talents (a fraction of which can be found in Volume 1 of “An Honest Lie”)), and writers of either a journalistic or literary nature would be wise to listen to her words of wisdom. We have learned a lot from her, and we believe that the same can be said from her about her time and experiences with O.H.P.

May your journey take you wherever you wish to go Erin; it has been a pleasure to have you with us at O.H.P.

Though we shall miss Ms. Russell, the presses at O.H.P. just do not stop, and there is a mighty large workload to take care of… so it is without further adieu that I am pleased to announce our new Junior Editor, Davin Kimble.

Davin Kimble

lives and writes from Fort Worth, Texas.
His writing career actually started when he learned to put words together. He remembers quite well the first story he ever wrote. Since then, his work has evolved into hundreds of short stories, poems, songs, essay’s and articles.

He is currently working on his first novel, tentatively entitled “Donovan,” a story about a 30 year old propaganda writer in a future war-torn America.

Davin also creates beats and lyrics for hip-hop and alternative music, and is an amateur photographer and digital artist.

His recent published works are “Stirrings in Hell” in the anthology, “The Devil Inside,” published by the House Of Horror Ezine ; “A New Way of Being”, published by House Of Horror Ezine in their anthology titled “House of Horror Best of 2009, Issue #2;” and “A Remarkable Picture” published by Twit Publishing in their anthology titled, “Twit Publishing Presents Pulp – 2010″. Davin is the Junior Editor for Open Heart Publishing.

To see more of Davin’s work, please visit www.davinkwriter.com.

Welcome aboard Davin, I can’t wait to start hearing about all of the wonderful things we are going to be seeing from Open Heart Publishing over the next few weeks.

From the presses at Open Heart Publishing in Dallas Texas, Happy reading all.

Debrin Case
Publisher: Open Heart Publishing

Submissions should be 3,000-6,000 words and relate to the theme “Delusions of Insignificance.” You can write 200-400 words a day, can’t you? Be sure to read the FAQ before you submit: www.anhonestlie.wordpress.com/faq.

And to all of you who didn’t come to The Cave of Colors Premiere, nanny-nanny-boo-boo! It was a wonderful time. More on that later, but in the meantime you can order your copies of The Cave of Colors, An Honest Lie, Vol. 1, or A Children’s Book of Necromancy from the OHP website.

In addition, the deadline is also March 15 to be considered as a writer or illustrator for an upcoming serialized fiction project with Open Heart Publishing. The setting is modern and based around a specific location and a diverse cast of characters; the “story collections” created by this team will be linear and as such the changes to characters within the story will have unique effects to plotline and development, and authors chosen for this episodic serial will receive full credit for the pieces. For more information regarding those writing and illustration opportunities, click here: http://debrincase.com/blog3/opportunities-with-o-h-p/

Artists interested in doing illustration for other projects should send a link to their work to ohpcareers@debrincase.com.

As a writer myself, I’m painfully aware of what it feels like to get a rejection letter. First it’s disappointing (although as I’ve received more of them over time, they’ve become less disappointing), and then it’s just confusing. You want to call the editor up and ask, “Why not?” Some of the time, editors will reject an author but say that they like their work, and invite them to submit again. As a writer, you think, “If you liked it, why did you reject it?”

So the task of writing rejection letters has become my least favorite part of the position. I can’t help but imagine the person I’m writing to reading it.

Here at OHP, every rejection comes with a reason, whether it’s that the author’s technical skill needs to be further developed, the work does not apply to the requested theme, or just doesn’t fit.

I know from experience that the “doesn’t fit” is the most frustrating of reasons to receive. You wonder why it doesn’t fit and how you’re supposed to know what does. The best remedy for this situation is to thoroughly research the market you are submitting to before you choose what piece you will send them. You can only get a feel for what fits when you’ve read an example of the market’s taste.

As an author, if you want more detailed feedback on your work, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Some writers are not responsive to criticism, so it can’t hurt to add “I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts,” at the end of your submission letter. You’ll still invariably get form letters, tons of them if you’re doing it right.

But remember when you get them that they’re as hard to send as they are to read.